The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki
by The Exiled Darkness
Summary: When the Kyuubi was set free on the tenth of October, would you expect the Shinigami to intervene? What would happen when the course of the future has been altered? This is the story of Naruto Uzumaki. AU [Currently Under Rewrite. Hiatus Approved ;)]
1. Chapter 1: A Jutsu Starts it All

**The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki**

**Authors Note: This is my first real story so I hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Sometimes I may forget that Japanese names are supposed to start with their last name as their first and first name as last. So forgive me if I forget. Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

The Elemental Nations… the land whose name came from the people who could bent the elements to their whim. Many say they are the land of the strong, the land of the shinobi; at least that's what people who live there describe themselves as…

Many lifetimes have passed since the battle between the Rikudo Sennin and the Juubi. The wars waged throughout the years as a never ending cycle. This time was known as the Warring States Period. This time was an extremely long and bloody period in history where many shinobi clans fought in constant battle.

Two men known as Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara created the first ninja village which goes by the name Konohagakure, otherwise known as the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Many others followed their example and created other hidden villages such as Kumogakure and Sunagakure, Cloud and Sand respectively.

After many more years, in the walls of Konoha a child was going to be born. The child's name was Uzumaki Naruto. He was son of the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato and the Red-Hot Habanero Uzumaki Kushina . Although this was supposed to be a happy day, a masked man, who claimed to be Madara, snuck into the village and removed the Kyuubi from its Jinchuuriki, Kushina. The masked man then hypnotized the tailed beast and ordered it to attack Konoha. Minato was able to defeat the masked man but in the end, was forced to seal the Kyuubi into a new container- his son; Naruto.

* * *

Middle of the Forest

A flash of yellow appeared in an empty forest clearing. From the flash a man appeared panting heavily while carrying a woman holding a small newborn. From behind them was the remaining rubble of the storehouse that was crushed by a large fox with nine tails.

The blond man was known as Namikaze Minato, Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure. In his arms was his wife, Uzumaki Kushina and his newborn child Naruto. "… Are you okay…?"

His wife looked up in relief. "Minato…" She whispered carrying the small sleeping child in her arms.

Minato set his wife down. "Somehow I've made it this far, but I don't have much chakra left…"

He slowly stood up. "I'll stop him one way or another… There are things… I must protect…" He clenched his hand into a fist. "Precious… things…" As he said that, the large hand of the Kyuubi slammed onto the ground, shaking the surroundings. Minato turned around. "As long as I have that, I swear that I'll never give up!" He clasped his hands together, but as he was about to perform a jutsu, chains appeared out of the ground and headed towards the form of the Kyuubi, binding and bringing it to the ground. As his shock disappeared, he heard his wife coughing violently. "Kushina!"

She was breathing heavily; the amount of effort was unbelievable for one who just survived a tailed beast extraction. "I'll take… the Kyuubi with me… to my death so that the… interval until he emerges… again is delayed. It's all I can manage right now with my… remaining chakra to help you two… Thanks for everything up until now."

Minato shook his head in the negative. He grabbed her shoulders, "Kushina… you're the one who made me Hokage, the one who made me a man. And made me this child's father, and yet I'm still useless."

His wife laughed weakly. "Don't look so sad. I… I'm happy… I'm loved by you, Plus… today is the child's birthday, so most of all… if I were to imagine me alive… and our future together as a family of three… then… I can't see us being anything but happy… But I wish that I could have seen Naruto grow up…"

Minato stood up rubbing his arm against his eyes. "Kushina, there's no need for you to die to kill the Kyuubi. Preserve what little of your chakra that remains for your reunion with Naruto. I'm going to seal the rest of your chakra inside Naruto. It'll be part of a Hakke Fuuin. And I'll take the Kyuubi with me… with the sealing jutsu I can do, not being a jinchuuriki… Shiki Fuujin (Reaper Death Seal)."

"But that jutsu results in the caster's death!"

"One more thing. I'm only sealing away half of the Kyuubi. With this, we can seal half of the Kyuubi forever. And the other half will go to… Naruto using the Hakke Fuin. There are two things I am certain of as of today. The masked man who attacked you will bring catastrophe to the world… and this child… will stop him."

Minato stood up and clasped his hands into the serpent seal, the ghostly figure of the Shinigami appearing behind him. The Kyuubi stood up with as much strength as it could. Seeing the Shinigami, its eyes widened in fear and his struggles increased to escape.

* * *

Same time Mt. Myoboku

The Great Toad Sage is the oldest and most respected toad of all the inhabitants of Mount Myoboku. He was alive even when the Rikudo Sennin was still roaming the earth, giving him a prophecy that a mischievous blue-eyed boy will unite the tailed beasts and change the world.

As of now, it seems as if the old toad was asleep…

But things are not as they seem.

Gamamaru's eyes opened in shock. His usual squinting was nowhere to be seen, fear was shown in the old toad's eyes as he began gasping for air. As the old toad panicked as the toad elders Fukasaku and Shima entered in a rush.

Fukasaku stood forward, "Great Toad Sage, what is the matter?"

Gamamaru's eyes, still opened in panic and shock said, "The child of prophecy! He is leaving this world!"

* * *

Back in a Forested Area

A pale hand went through Minato's body as it launched itself at the massive beast grabbing half of it's chakra and slowly pulling it toward Minato. Once close slowly went inside Minato's body and was sealed, showing the engraved marking of Minato's stomach. Minato slumped slightly as he felt the pressure of the chakra and winced. 'Such heavy Chakra' He looked up and noticed the size of the Kyuubi now was half it's original size,. He had to act fast.

Minato Quickly made hand signs once more and summoned what looked like a ceremonial bed and quickly placed his child down on the soft cushioning. He could hear the coughing and the heavy wheezing from Kushina and looked back for a quick second. "Kushina!"

It was a short amount of time before Minato realized that the chakra chains binging the Kyuubi were loosening. He and Kushina looked at to see the massive claw aiming towards his and Kushina's beloved child. Both rushed in front of the beast hand and as quick they were pierced from behind, holding the claw to slow it's momentum, sighing in both pain and relief that it barely reaches their child.

"Y-you!" cursed the Kyuubi as he snarled once the chains tightened around him once more.

"I said I was the father... Dying for my child is my right."

"I'm the mother... It's my right too..."

They both took a couple seconds to look at their child, still sleeping peacefully.

Kushina bowed her head and slowly gave a nod as she coughed a little, "This is the first time... I've lost an argument against you. It proves how serious you are..." She said quietly.

Minato nodded as he smiled "Thanks, Kushina." He looked up at the Shinigami and looked back at Kushina. "I'm about to perfrom the Hakke Fuin and store what chakra we have left…So it's best to say what you have to say now" he said smiling at his wife.

"My child... Don't be a picky eater... Eat a lot... And grow big and strong. Make sure to bathe everyday... And stay warm... Don't stay up late... Get plenty of sleep..."

She smiles, "Plus... Make friends... You don't need tons okay? Just a few that you can trust. And... Your mom was bad at this... But study hard... And learn your ninjutsu...! Just... Everyone is good at some things and not at others... So even if things don't go too well... Don't get depressed, okay? At the Academy, respect your teachers and those senior to you..."

She takes a breath, "Oh... And be extra careful about loaning and borrowing money. Make sure you save money from your mission pay... And don't start drinking until you're old enough... And... make sure to be wary of Jiraiya."

She clenches her fist, "Baby, there will be plenty of hard and painful times ahead. Take care of yourself... Make sure to have dreams... And the confidence to make those dreams come true! So much! There is so... so much... so much more for me to tell you! So much more I want to tell you. I want to be with you longer! ...I love you."

Tears start escaping, "I'm sorry, I talked too much."

Minato shook his head. "No... It's all right." He stares at his child.

"...My child... My words to you as your father..." He smiles. "Is ditto to what your loquacious mother said..."

'Hakke Fuuin'

A bright light appears as the Kyuubi is once again sealed. The parents bodies fall to the ground, when the Shinigami appears with an orange bundle in his arms. Kushina opens her eyes weakly and says, "Don't hurt her..."

The Shinigami doesn't answer. Instead he places a newborn child next to the daughter of the slowly dying couple and vanishes. Kushina uses the last of her strength to see what the death god has done and sees a blonde child almost similar to Minato, only with a chubby face... Like hers... She gasps and slowly reaches her less bloodied hand out to stroke the cheek of her daughter and then the boy. She smiles. 'At least... They won't be alone...' She thinks before her hand falls slack and the Third and his Anbu arrive, not seeing the note next to the boy's blanket.


	2. Chapter 2: Making a New Friend

**The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Chapter 2: Making a Friend**

**Sometimes I may forget that Japanese names are supposed to start with their last name as their first and first name as last. So forgive me if I forget. Anyway, on with the story!**

* * *

"Where am I?" asked a rather confused Naruto. All around him was a barren wasteland; but if he looked far enough, he saw two people fighting. With nothing better to do, the twelve year old boy ran as fast as his legs could carry him towards the battle scene.

Eventually when he arrived at the scene his mouth dropped open in shock and his eyes widened comically. There were nine large meteor like objects floating in midair and in the background were large statues of two men. The statues, however, looked as if explosions had destroyed them. Another creepy thing was the two people fighting. One of the people looked exactly like him, with the same blue eyes and blonde hair. The other looked just like the teme, Sasuke. Same duckbutt hairdo but this Sasuke had one weird red eye and a creepy purple eye. Naruto wanted to speak out but found that he couldn't make any attempt at speech. Giving up on trying to speak, he saw both his lookalike and Sasuke's lookalike charge at each other with some justu that they both held. Right before they made contact, Naruto felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise, as if warning him of what was about to come, just as the two lookalikes collided with their techniques. Seeing a large dome of pure energy expand from the collision, Naruto panicked and started to back away when he saw that the energy dome was eating away at the surroundings. Heck, even the statues were getting destroyed! Stumbling and falling on his rear, Naruto watched in horror as the dome made its war towards him. Just as it was about to reach him, he closed his eyes and prayed it was all a dream.

* * *

"Ahhhh!" Naruto woke up and fell out of his bed managing to tangle himself in the mess of his sheets and blanket. After a few minutes of attempting to get out of the death trap he got himself into, he tried to remember what made him fall out of bed like that. It was a nightmare, that much was obvious, but he couldn't remember a thing. He looked towards his clock. 8:30 a.m.

Naruto got up and stretched, yawning as he did so. He had roughly an hour and a half until he was supposed to be at the Academy. He even had enough time to go and meet Choji and Shikamaru for breakfast. With that thought in mind, he rushed to change out of his nightclothes and into his usual orange jumpsuit. The jumpsuit was mostly a dull orange while sleeves of the jacket were black. Looking back at the mirror on his wall, he nodded his head as he ran out the door and locked it behind him.

Climbing down the stairs a flash of red caught his eye but at the same time, made him trip. "Ah!" Naruto yelled as he fell down a flight of stairs. Naruto, trying to regain control of the situation, use the Kawarimi no Justu (Replacement Jutsu) and replaced himself with the red ball he saw earlier. Glaring at the stupid ball that made him trip, he kicked it over the fence and heard a man yell indignantly. Jumping in surprise, he tried walking away casually before sprinting off, forgetting about the man he hit, knowing that Choji wouldn't leave him any food if he was late.

* * *

Iruka Umino stood up from his chair stretching his legs while waiting for the rest of his students to arrive so he could start his daily lesson. Iruka is a man of average height and has brown hair that is kept in a ponytail. The most noticeable feature was a scar that runs across the bridge of his nose. He wears the standard Konoha shinobi outfit complete with forehead protector, sandals, and flak jacket.

He sighed and looked at the clock. 'Five minutes until class starts.' He thought to himself.

Right as he finished is train of thought, he could hear what could be described as a stampede going on outside. He realized that he was right next to the door and rather skillfully, in his opinion, avoided the imminent danger that was approaching. Right as he left the path of the doorway; two of his other students, Sakura and Ino, entered the room at nearly the same time.

"FIRST!" they both shouted. They then rounded on each other, "NO, I WAS FIRST! NO YOU WEREN'T, I WAS!"

Iruka did the only thing he could do, put on a pair of earplugs, and wait the situation out. He also noticed that right when the bell rang, Naruto entered the classroom and took a seat next to Sasuke Uchiha. Iruka winced at the bad choice. Once Naruto sat down, the two bickering girls turned their attention to him and marched on to engage him in 'friendly' conversation. Iruka couldn't hear what was going on, but from what he saw, he figured that the two girls 'convinced' Naruto to move. Naturally, Naruto moved. Smart choice.

* * *

Naruto swore silently as he sat down in a different seat. Every day, those two girls would fight over who could sit next to their "precious" Sasuke-kun. It annoyed him at how some people could not take a hint. Sasuke clearly showed with his body posture that he didn't want any of the two banshee shinobi wannabe to sit next to him. Shaking the thoughts from his head, he saw Iruka-sensei remove his earplugs_,_ and start to call for attendance.

First he called out Aburame Shino. Shino was tall, much taller than the rest of his fellow students and wore a sea green jacket with a high upturned collar. He had bushy, brown hair and glasses which covered his eyes. Shino was a calm and collected sort of guy and he had bugs on him the entire time which lead to him being rather unsocial due to others being afraid of a 'creepy bug man.'

Next, he called out Akimichi Chouji. Chouji has spiky, brown hair, swirl marks on his cheeks, and like other members of the Akimichi clan; a more big-boned physique. He wore black shorts, a long white scarf, a short sleeved, green haori, over a white shirt with the kanji for food on it. He also wore bandages on his arms and legs. The Akimichi was Naruto's friend ever since the first day of the Academy. Naruto found a couple of other students call Chouji fat and stood up for the guy and next thing he knew, he found a friend in the big-boned boy.

After calling some other names that Naruto couldn't really bring himself to care about, his attention was brought to Inuzuka Kiba. Kiba had a feral appearance, like most other Inuzuka members, and had messy brown hair, sharp black eyes and vertical slit like pupils along with pronounced canine teeth and nails. Kiba's most noticeable feature was his distinctive red fang markings that were found on his cheeks. He wore dark grayish pants reaching his calves and a gray, hooded fur lined coat, with the hood on. Kiba was loud, annoying, a braggart, and his dog was no better… except when it came to smell. Kiba was good at Taijutsu and his sense of smell was good, but he was too overconfident and cocky.

After Kiba, the next worthwhile name was another good friend of his, Nara Shikamaru. The Nara heir had shoulder length black hair tied in a spiky ponytail which looked similar to a pineapple when compared and narrow brown eyes. He wore rather plain clothes consisting of a green lined mesh T-shirt under a short sleeve grey jacket and brown pants with blue sandals. Other than being one of the laziest people in the world, he was pretty smart. He and Shikamaru were playing shogi once, and when Naruto put him in a corner, Shikamaru miraculously turned the situation around, unintentionally revealing his intelligence.

Next, was one of the two remaining Uchiha left in Konoha. The first was Uchiha Satsumi. She had onyx eyes and black waist length hair that was tied in a ponytail. She wore a navy blue, short sleeved shirt with a slightly high collar with the Uchiha crest on her back and short gray shorts. Compaired her brother, she was rather cheerful and didn't shun everyone and brood all day. Sasuke, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of his sister... well, socially. He also wore the traditional Uchiha clothing with his collar being slightly higher and shorts longer. Sasuke always acts so 'cool', as the fangirls say, but is a really talented shinobi. Not that Naruto would ever say that out loud. The one major flaw that Naruto finds about Sasuke is that he looks down on everyone except his sister and this one certain girl.

"Uzumaki Natsuki." Iruka called.

"Here." Natsuki replied.

Natsuki Uzumaki. Other than sharing a last name, which he could probably accredit to the once feared Uzumaki clan before they were destroyed, they had nothing in common. While Naruto was decent in the shinobi arts, she was as good as Sasuke.

"NARUTO!"

Naruto shot out of his seat and fell onto the floor, his legs comically sticking up into the air. Everyone laughed at his misfortune while he grumbled a "Here" while he got back in his seat. Iruka smirked and called out the last person, Yamanaka Ino. She was just like Kiba: loud, annoying, and obnoxious. She was also very bossy. He didn't like her very much. Iruka, after calling roll, started their lesson, which was about Genjutsu.

Naruto couldn't really care about Genjutsu because he sucked at it. He found Ninjutsu much more favorable with Taijutsu coming to a close second. After all, who doesn't like burning someone to a crisp after kicking them into oblivion? Someone weird that's who! Somewhere on a mission, Kurenai Yuuhi sneezed and felt irritated for some reason. Eventually getting bored at reviewing how to escape from Genjutsu, Naruto put his head on his desk and fell asleep.

* * *

Naruto woke up in Konoha. He guessed it was the leaf village because he saw the Hokage Monument, but this one had five faces on it. But for some reason, dust was blocking his view of everything else so he had to wait for the dust to clear. All of a sudden, he felt a rather large earthquake, or what seemed like one. When he turned his head, he saw three large toads and a smaller toad sitting on the middle toads head. And on top of the smaller toads head was… Him?

* * *

Naruto woke up from his dream when a hand belonging to Natsuki Uzumaki smacked his head. Crying out in pain, Naruto held his head while glaring at the perpetrator.

She looked at him with an impassive stare. "Wake up, it's time to go outside."

Naruto rubbed his side, muttering on how Shikamaru was right when he said women were troublesome. "Yeah, yeah. I'm sure that your hit wont sabotage me in any way."

She snorted and left.

After totally kicking some person's ass in a taijutsu fight, and actually hitting the appropriate spot on the target seven out of ten times, another day at the Academy was gone. Naruto, quite hungry after doing surprisingly well, considered going to get some ramen. He usually went to eat with Choji and Shikamaru at a barbeque place, but was feeling in the mood for some ramen.

As he was walking, he noticed some of the villagers giving him quizzical looks, and some others smiling at him. Weird. He walked by a window clean enough to give off a good reflection, and examined himself. He had spiky blonde hair, a lighter and more vibrant color than a Yamanaka's. He also had violet-blue eyes, which looked more like a light shade of purple than anything. His face, while a bit round, was clear of any blemishes or scars and he was at a fairly good height of five foot for a twelve year old. When he saw nothing new with his appearance Naruto decided that the villagers were weird. 'Maybe they think the jumpsuit is cool and want one of their own.' Naruto thought as he moved to the side, evading a young boy playing tag with his friends. Naruto shrugged his shoulders and continued walking until he reached the ramen stand.

When he entered the stand, he immediately went for the stool closest to the entrance. He almost didn't see the person sitting on the stool and almost crashed into her. When he regained his bearings, he noticed that the girl didn't even notice his blunder, and was eating her ramen without a care in the world. When she finished, Naruto immediately recognized her as Natsuki. He decided not to make a big deal about her taking his seat and took a seat two to the right from her. She seemed to finally notice him, but didn't attempt to make any sort of conversation. After ordering miso with pork, he sat and observed his classmate.

Her hair was a light red color, which she wore in a ponytail that comes down to the small of her back. She wore a beige battle kimono that went to her thighs. She also wore bicycle shorts and black shorts on top. For footwear, Natsuki wore black boot-like sandals that went to her calves as well as black thigh high socks. He continued to stare even after he received his ramen. Apparently, she noticed him staring at her and she called him out for it.

"Any reason why you're staring at me, Naruto?" She asked as small smirk appeared on her face.

Naruto snaps into attention and blushes. He figured telling the truth would help him better than lying and after scratching the back of his head, replies, "I, uh, like the color of your hair."

Her eyes widened before she blushed but turned her head back to her new bowl. She began eating at a faster pace than before. Naruto breathed a sigh of relief and began to eat his ramen. What he didn't notice was the smirk the ramen waitress was giving him, or the amused look the cook had as he unintentionally heard the conversation.

After eating five more bowls, he decided not to waste the rest of his rent money and left the stand. He was so content with his meal that he almost missed someone calling his name. He turned around and saw Natsuki catching up to him, so he slowed down in his walking speed.

"Man, you really walk fast." She said catching her breath.

Naruto shrugged. "Really? Maybe that's why Shikamaru hates walking with me. Anyways, what's up?"

She shrugged. "Nothing much." She pointed towards the Hokage Monument with her thumb. "Wanna go to the top of the monument?"

After a moment of thought, he replied, "Why not."

What not either of them noticed was the glare being sent at Naruto by a pale eyed girl hiding behind a tall post.

When they reached the Hokage Monument, the time of day was an hour to sunset. Naruto motioned towards the head of the Fourth Hokage, which Natsuki agreed to, saying that was her original idea. When they sat on the Fourth's head, they had a comfortable silence where they both enjoyed the gentle wind that passed by. Soon Naruto got restless and asked, "So why did you bring me here?"

Natsuki looked at him for a moment before looking back over the village. "I wanted to thank you for complimenting my hair. No one has done that before. People always compliment other features. It's the first time someone actually complimented me on my hair." She said. "Sometimes people talk about it behind my back thinking I can't here them."

Naruto looked at her hair, which in the colors of the sunset looked even better than before. "Why would they make fun of the color, it's a pretty color."

Natsuki snorted. "I never thought I'd hear the day where a boy would say 'pretty' in a sentence." She said smirking at him.

Naruto blushed and crossed his arms with a huff, getting her to give out a small laugh. They watched the rest of the sunset without any interruptions, only not seeing the even more powerful glare Naruto was receiving from the same pale-eyed girl, who decided that her time stalk- I mean observing the duo had to come to an end.

When the sun finally set, Naruto said, "The sunset from this spot is always the best." To which Natsuki agreed to. Suddenly, a thought hit Naruto.

"Hey Natsuki," he asked. She looked over her shoulder as if telling him to continue.

"Do you think we can do this tomorrow?" Naruto tried not getting his hopes up, but today was actually enjoyable. Natsuki gave this some thought before smiling. "Sure, why not." With that, she jumped off the head and onto the stairwell. She turned back, "See you tomorrow."

Naruto only grinned.


	3. Chapter 3: Graduation and a New Jutsu

**The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Chapter 3: Graduation and a New Jutsu**

**Make Sure to Review! Enjoy!**

* * *

"-that is your mission, now get to it."

"Hai!"

Without another moment, the three Jounin were off completing whatever mission they received.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, once known as the Shinobi no Kami, sat behind his desk and sighed. He wore the official robes of the Hokage which consisted of the customary hat and haori, along with a red, full length kimono that was tied back with a white sash.

The Sandaime looked towards the open window, "You can come in now Jiraiya."

A chuckle was heard from outside the office and from the open window came a tall man with waist-length spiky white hair that was tied into a ponytail. The man also had two shoulder-length bangs that framed both sides of his face and red lines that ran down from his eyes. On top of his head was a horned forehead protector with the kanji for 'Oil'. For clothes, he wore a red haori that had two yellow circles on each side, while beneath it were green short shirt kimono and matching pants; where mesh armor was shown from the sleeves and legs. He had hand guards and wooden sandals otherwise known as geta. The most eye-catching thing was the large scroll on his back.

"Heh, seems like I still can't hide from you old man." Jiraiya smirked.

Hiruzen allowed a smile small at his old student's jibe. "Nor will you ever, Jiraiya, nor will you ever." The Hokage's smile disappeared as he stared at his student in all seriousness, "What have you discovered, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya's smirk also disappeared as he took a seat across from his old sensei. "You told me to find out more about the group of S-ranked criminals that formed a couple years ago, as well as the origins of the child you found that day of the Kyuubi attack."

Hiruzen nodded as he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a folder which contained three sheets of paper, the most noticeable; a faded piece of paper. "Yes. We will discuss the group of S-rank shinobi later. Right now we will focus on the boy. The night of the sealing, a note was found with the child when I and a couple of my Anbu arrived at the area."

Jiraiya looked at the note in confusion. "Why haven't I heard about this note yet?"

Hiruzen rolled his eyes and handed over the note to Jiraiya. When Jiraiya looked on with a confused look, the Hokage said, "Read it aloud."

Jiraiya did as he was told. "'This child's name is Naruto Uzumaki, member of the Uzumaki clan. Raise him well.' Member of the Uzumaki clan, I can believe if not for his blonde hair. After all, isn't red hair dominant when it came to the Uzumaki?"

Hiruzen nodded. "You would be correct, Jiraiya. But I conducted a blood test with the only other Uzumaki in the village at the time. Natsuki."

Jiraiya's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, I get it, but is he an Uzumaki?"

The Sandaime nodded. "From the test, it was confirmed that by blood, Uzumaki Naruto is an genuine member of the Uzumaki clan. As is Uzumaki Natsuki. Both have unnaturally large chakra reserves, but I think that with the Kyuubi sealed within her, Natsuki should have a much larger reserve than her other clan member."

Jiraiya stood up as a terrifying thought came to mind. "Wait a minute. Does Danzo know? With two members of an almost extinct clan, you would think that he would at least tried to sway the council into performing the CRA?"

Hiruzen only sighed. "Yes, Danzo has already tried that, but I was able to convince both him and the members of the council to discuss the future of the two children when they reach the proper age to do so. However when I said that, Danzo had a strange gleam in his eye. I, as of now have dodged the bullet, but I hope I can stall the council until later."

The Toad Sage only nodded as he sat himself back into the chair to discuss with his former teacher about the group of S-ranked criminals.

* * *

Naruto sprinted as he made his way to the Academy. He couldn't be late for the Graduation Exam. He ran passed civilians and jumped over food carts as he made his way to his last day in school.

"There it is! My ticket out of school and into the shinobi world!" He pumped his legs with a miniscule amount of chakra, in his opinion, and blasted off the ground leaving a small crack in the ground the size of his foot. What he didn't see was red haired girl about to open the door. His eyes widened as he crashed into Natsuki sending both of them to the floor, or so he thought. In the split second he crashed into her, she used the Kawarimi no jutsu (Substitution Jutsu) and switched herself with a nearby broom. He then froze when he had his left arm behind his back and a kunai around his neck. One second, two seconds… When Natsuki realized she had her kunai at her friend's neck, she let go and helped him to his feet.

"Damn it! That hurts you know?" Naruto said as he rolled his arm in a circle to relieve the pain. Natsuki on the other hand just smirked as she brushed a stray piece of hair to the side.

"Then that means you should get stronger to avoid this next time. I can't be there to help you all the time."

Naruto growled as he opened the door to the classroom. "There won't be a next time 'cuz that's not happening agai-"

He would've finished his sentence if the ground suddenly didn't start shaking. They both looked outside and saw the large dust trail in the distance which was slowly growing larger and larger. In a few seconds they could see both Ino and Sakura sprinting towards the Academy glaring at each other. Right when the two distracted girls made their way to the top of the stairway and close to the classroom, Naruto pushed Natsuki into the classroom as he was trampled by the girls as they crashed into the doorframe trying to get in. Once they got in the room, they argued over who would sit next to Sasuke while Naruto picked himself off the floor and limped towards his seat.

When he sat down he had a bandage put on a cut on his head. When he looked at who put it on, he saw Natsuki smiling at him as she threw the casing away. Suddenly, she flicked him on the forehead.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Naruto said rubbing the red mark on his abused forehead.

Natsuki narrowed her eyes and her lips made a thin line. "For pushing me out of the way when you know we both could've gotten out the way in time. Idiot."

Naruto smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck as he looked away. "Yeah, sorry. Just instinct."

She rolled her eyes and pointed to the front of the room. "Class is starting. Pay attention."

Both missed the glare sent towards Naruto by a young Hyuuga heir.

Iruka and Mizuki both walked into the classroom nearly the same time. Iruka through the door and Mizuki from the window but disguised it as a cloud of smoke as to not incur the wrath of Iruka. They both walked up to the center of the class and stood by the desk.

"As you all know…" Iruka started. "Today is the day you all have your graduation exams. I wish you all good luck. We'll start with the written portion of the test first. Mizuki will hand out the papers. Once you receive yours, you may begin. You have one hour until the second portion of the test."

(One Hour Later)

After cheating for most of the answers, Naruto flipped his paper over and waited for Iruka to call for time. Right when Naruto finished his train of thought, Iruka stood up and told everyone to put their pencils down and to line up in alphabetical order for the jutsu portion of the test.

"Okay, for this test the jutsu needed will be the Henge (Transformation) since we forgot to review it one last time like we did for the other jutsu." Iruka said.

Naruto maintained a calm façade on the outside, but on the inside was leaping in joy and flicking off the words; Bunshin no jutsu (Clone jutsu). 'Hah! Suck it clones! Finally I get a lucky break and we don't have to do the shitty clone jutsu!' he mentally yelled.

Name after name, person after person, boy after girl, each and every single student seemed to have passed the second portion and came out of the room with a new forehead protector. Of course some failed but Naruto could care less. He was about to pass. Just a few more names and then he would pass.

Finally, his turn came when Sasuke came up to him and said, "Oi, Uzumaki. It's your turn."

Naruto sped into the room faster than the rest of the students could see and stood in front of Iruka and Mizuki tapping his foot nervously and excitedly. Iruka coughed into his hand to get his student's attention.

"Okay Naruto, like I said before, just use the Henge to transform into something believable."

Naruto nodded and calmed down slightly. He put his hands together and thought of a person to impersonate. 'Hmm, people most likely transformed into sensei to get some extra credit, so he's out. Don't wanna transform into Mizuki, so let's try…'

With a poof of smoke, instead of Naruto there was Sasuke Uchiha giving his usual condescending smirk. "Hn." He grunted.

Iruka looked over the Henge with a critical eye making sure there were no imperfections. When he saw none, he leaned back into his chair and smiled. "Good job Naruto. You Pass."

Naruto couldn't keep the transformation any longer as it was dispelled as he ran forward to receive his newly earned forehead protector. Laughing like a child receiving a present, he grabbed it and ran out of the testing room with a gigantic smile on his face, ignoring everything that happened afterwards.

The smile didn't leave his face even after the school day was finished. Once the students were allowed to leave, he was the first one out. Right when he was about to jump onto a rooftop, he was stopped by Mizuki.

"Hey Naruto, do you mind following me for a minute?" Mizuki asked with a disarming smile.

Naruto simply nodded and followed Mizuki to the top of the Academy. When Naruto finally caught up with Mizuki, he walked up to his former sensei and asked, "Why did you bring me here sensei?"

Mizuki looked at Naruto with a serious look. "Naruto, I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but I have to tell you that you almost failed."

Naruto's eyes widened in shock. He almost failed? How? When he voiced his concerns, Mizuki just waved his hand.

"You missed almost too many questions on the written portion of the exam. In fact, if you missed one more, you would've failed." He said. "But I have an extra credit assignment for you just in case you did fail, so what about it. Want to take a chance and fail, or do you want to make sure you don't fail? The choice is yours."

Naruto ran up to Mizuki without a second thought, "I'll take it, give me the extra credit!"

Mizuki smirked. "Okay so here's what you've got to do…"

* * *

Naruto jumped from branch to branch looking to the place Mizuki said to meet at.

(Flashback Start)

"_Okay so here's what you've got to do. To receive extra credit you need to borrow the scroll hidden away in the Hokage Tower. The scroll is most likely the largest one and once you get the scroll, meet me at a small cabin a half hour away from the village in the nearby forest." Mizuki said._

_Naruto closed his eyes to process the information. '_Hokage Tower, largest scroll, small cabin…'

_He gave a large smile. "No worries sensei! I'll get the job done!"_

_Mizuki was about to leave when a sudden thought came to mind. _'Damn. The Hokage might stop him before he gets the scroll and my plan will be ruined.'

_He turned towards Naruto and said, "Oh, and for extra challenge, many shinobi like the Hokage himself will try to stop you. It's to see if you have what it takes to become a shinobi."_

_Naruto saluted his teacher. "No worries, I got this."_

(Flashback End)

He saw the rendezvous point and landed there. Naruto looked around for Mizuki. After not seeing him, Naruto guessed that his teacher was giving him extra time just in case he didn't have the scroll yet.

"Okay I've got the scroll and haven't met any shinobi who want to stop me yet. I guess I have to wait."

So he waited for a couple minutes before he became a little restless. "Aw man! What's taking Mizuki so long to get here! I've got stuff to do tomorrow!"

He was about to lie down and close his eyes when a sudden thought came to mind. _'Wait, why would Mizuki have me get this scroll. What's so special about it?'_

Naruto picked the scroll up and opened it to the very first thing he saw. He squinted his eyes to make out the text. "Kage… Bunshin? Kage-Bunshin (Shadow Clone)? What so special about this jutsu?"

After giving it some thought he decided to learn it. "After all, if Mizuki is going to keep me waiting, why not keep myself busy?"

(Half an Hour Later)

"Heh…" Naruto smirked. He got that stupid clone jutsu down. He felt exhausted, something he rarely felt unless he was giving the task his upmost best. He was about to look inside the scroll again when from out of the trees, Iruka appeared.

"Naruto!"

Iruka was breathing heavily. He had just heard from Mizuki that Naruto had stolen the Forbidden Scroll from the Hokage Tower. How a newly graduated student had bypassed the entire security of the leaf and stolen one of its most important objects was confusing to think about. How Naruto had done it, he had no clue. Instead of meeting with all of the other Chuunin and Jounin to discuss what to do with the matter, he had left to find his student before any others could. Unknown to most, Iruka was actually once in the Anbu. The former Anbu was quite exceptional when it came to tracking, which he was the leader of before he became a teacher at the Academy. So using his tracking skills, he found where his student had gone off to.

After jumping from branch to branch he saw his target. Seeing his student looking a little worn out with a satisfied smirk on his face gave Iruka a small smile which he quickly hid.

"Naruto!"

Said boy jumped in fright and turned around, rolling the scroll up and placing it on his back. "Hah! I found you Iruka-sensei!"

Iruka could feel a vein pulsing on the side of his head when he heard the ludicrous answer his former student gave him. "No you idiot, I found you! What were you thinking! Stealing the Forbidden Scroll? What made you think of doing something as stupid as that?!"

Naruto's smirk vanished and in its place a look of fear appeared. "W-what do you mean stealing? Mizuki-sensei told me to get this for extra credit. And look, I even managed to learn a jutsu from this scroll too!"

Iruka looked flabbergasted. Extra credit? Mizuki? Learning a jutsu from the scroll? He was about to comment when he heard the high-pitched sound of blades cutting air from behind him.

"Naruto watch out!" He pushed himself out of the way, Naruto following him as a large shuriken pierced the ground where they were standing.

"Good job Naruto! Now, hand over the scroll so we can give you that extra credit." Mizuki said as he appeared standing on top of a tree branch.

As Naruto started to walk up to Mizuki, Iruka immediately understood what was going on. "No! Naruto don't give him the scroll!"

Mizuki's gentle smile vanished as Naruto stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Iruka confused. He glared at Iruka before trying another smile at Naruto. "Don't listen to Iruka, Naruto. Just give me the scroll so we can go back to the village and you can get your extra credit."

Iruka ran up to Naruto and placed his hand on his student's shoulder. Naruto, startled looked up at him and said, "What's going on? Why are you saying 'don't give him the scroll' while Mizuki-sensei is saying 'give me the scroll'?"

Apparently losing his patience, Mizuki lost his smile and glared at the two below him. "You just had to ruin everything didn't you Iruka?"

Iruka just kept his glare while subtly putting Naruto safely behind him. "I wouldn't have had to ruin anything if you didn't trick Naruto."

Naruto's eyes widened before he clenched his fists. He was tricked? Was he going to fail or worse be put to die for stealing something important from the village? His thoughts were banished when Iruka, noticing his student's demeanor go from shocked to sadness, gave a reassuring smile and flick to the forehead.

"Don't worry you little brat. I'll make sure you'll be alright." Iruka said with a teasing smile.

Not knowing what else to do, Naruto smiled back rubbing his forehead. Mizuki rolled his eyes before spitting on the ground. "That display was so touching it makes me sick! I'll just kill the both of you and take the scroll for myself! Starting with you, Naruto!"

Without another word, Mizuki took his other large shuriken and started spinning it on his left hand. Iruka seeing a chance, turned slightly towards Naruto. "Naruto, look. I know you may be a little shocked but I need you to stay behind me until I deflect that shuriken. Then I need you to run and get some help. Do you understand?"

Naruto didn't have a chance to reply as Mizuki released his shuriken at them. Iruka pushed Naruto out of the way and jumped up to engage Mizuki only to see Mizuki throw another shuriken straight at him.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu)!" Mizuki yelled. One shuriken became ten as Iruka closed his eyes for the inevitable. Instead of feeling many blades to pierce his body, he heard multiple 'poofs' as if something burst into smoke. Opening his eyes, he saw Mizuki with a shocked expression and Naruto standing in front of him with seemingly no injuries.

Mizuki pointed at Naruto and started stuttering, "That's impossible! No ordinary Genin has enough chakra for the Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" It's unheard of!"

Naruto just smirked. "This jutsu took me forever to get down!" Naruto's smirk turned into a frown as he stared at Mizuki. "You tried to kill Iruka-sensei."

Mizuki just stared at Naruto disbelievingly. "Of course I did! It's what we do you dumbass! And now, with the knowledge of you knowing a kinjutsu, I know the bigger threat is you!" He said as he jumped at Naruto who pushed Iruka out of the way.

"Naruto!" Iruka yelled once he regained his balance only to see his student get stabbed in the stomach by Mizuki. Iruka couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his student cough up blood and start to fall down to the ground only to disappear into a cloud of smoke.

"Huh?" Mizuki was sure he killed the damn brat only to get kicked in the head by a Naruto clone. He was slammed into a tree headfirst and slumped to his knees, his vision unfocused. After using the tree to stand up, he swore to kill the damn kid when Mizuki felt a large amount of chakra being used.

"Take this!" Naruto shouted as he continued flaring his chakra and the entire forest was filled with Naruto clones.

Mizuki could only stare in shock as the clones started to jump at him baring their fists threateningly. All he saw was orange before the world turned black.

Iruka could only watch the beatdown with slight pride as his student walked up to him and said, "So Iruka-sensei, do I still get extra credit?"


	4. Chapter 4: Konoha's Newest Jinchuuriki

**Chapter 4- The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki**

**Authors Note: This is my first real story so I hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Sometimes I may forget that Japanese names are supposed to start with their last name as their first and first name as last. So forgive me if I forget. Anyway, on with the story!**

**Quote of the day: "Roses are red bushes are green, my search history is clean… if you know what I mean…"**

**I'm sorry that it took me so long to update the story. All I'm gonna say is that Clash of Clans is addictive. Also, make sure to Review!**

* * *

_Last time on The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki…_

_Mizuki pointed at Naruto and started stuttering, "That's impossible! No ordinary Genin has enough chakra for the __Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu!" __It's unheard of!"_

_Naruto just smirked. "This jutsu took me forever to get down!" Naruto's smirk turned into a frown as he stared at Mizuki. "You almost killed Iruka-sensei."_

_Mizuki just stared at Naruto disbelievingly. "Of course I did! It's what we do you dumbass! And now I know the bigger threat is you!" He said as he jumped at Naruto who pushed Iruka out of the way._

"_Naruto!" Iruka yelled once he regained his balance only to see his student get stabbed in the stomach by Mizuki. Iruka couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his student cough up blood and start to fall down to the ground only to disappear into a cloud of smoke._

"_Huh?" Mizuki was sure he killed the damn brat only to get kicked in the head twice by two Naruto clones._

"_Take this!" Naruto shouted as he flared his chakra and the entire forest was filled with Naruto clones._

_Mizuki could only stare in shock as the clones started to jump at him baring their fists threateningly. All he saw was orange before the world turned black._

_Iruka could only watch the beatdown with slight pride as his student walked up to him and said, "So Iruka-sensei, do I still get extra credit?"_

* * *

Iruka could honestly say that he had never seen a display like this before. A newly graduated genin had defeated a veteran, albeit weaker than normal standard, chunin. He could without a doubt say that he was proud of his student, if only he was this surprising when it came to class. Shaking the random thoughts out of his head, he noticed Naruto finish speaking. Not knowing what Naruto had said, Iruka could only grin and create some bullshit excuse.

"Even if what you did was extremely rash and stupid," He saw his student's face fall slightly from its former exuberance, "I have to say, that I am honestly proud of you."

As if a switch was flipped, Naruto's expression turned from dejected to downright estatic. "You mean it Iruka-sensei?!"

Iruka laughed, having been caught with Naruto's infectious attitude, "Of course! You-"

Iruka would have said more, if not for the tiger masked Anbu member appearing via Shunshin (Body-Flicker). The masked shinobi turned his attention to the youngest of the two shinobi.

" Genin Uzumaki, you have been called to the Hokage Tower for a meeting with Hokage-sama himself. I have been assigned as your escort to the tower." The Anbu then turned to Iruka and gave him the slightest of nods. Replying with one of his own, Iruka looked over to Naruto to see the blonde haired boy tie the Forbidden Scroll to his back and walk up to the Anbu. Naruto gave a small smile.

"Hey sensei, next time let's eat some ramen alright?" Iruka could only grin before the tiger masked shinobi shunshined himself and Naruto to the tower. Iruka looked up at the stars, sighing in relief. "Things are going to get crazy soon, I just know it."

Being randomly teleported from one place to another was an experience Naruto was sure he was going to never forget. The Anbu unconsciously forgetting that Naruto had no experience with the Shunshin no jutsu, was amused when he saw the orange clad boy fall to his knees and try not to puke on the floors. When Naruto was about to stand up and give the Anbu a piece of his mind, said member vanished in a puff of smoke.

Grumbling about stupid Anbu and stupid jutsu, he made his way to the office of the Hokage and knocked on the door. Hearing a slightly muffled reply, he opened the door only to jump out of the way as a small brown headed boy run out of the room and down the hallway as an older shinobi, revealed by his forehead protector, ran after him yelling about some honorable grandson and sleeping.

Naruto shook his head in annoyance and walked into the office. The first thing that hit him was the small yet noticeable scent of tobacco and the large amounts of paperwork that was stacked on the desk. Averting his eyes from the large stack of paper, the next point of interest was the four pictures set in a horizontal row above the window. There lied the pictures of the four past Hokage. On the far left, framed was the Shodaime Hokage; Hashirama Senju. Following next was the Nidaime; Tobirama Senju, the first's brother. The fourth photo was of the latest Hokage and the strongest shinobi of his generation, the Yondaime Hokage; Minato Namikaze. The third photo was of the Sandaime, he of which is still alive and the current leader of Konohagakure. His name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. The very same shinobi that is looking at Naruto with a critical eye, making note of every movement that the young boy made.

Hiruzen gestured for Naruto to take a seat, which Naruto quickly did, feeling the strength leaving his legs as he was being scrutinized by the old shinobi. The two sat in an awkward silence as the Hokage continued to smoke his pipe occasionally releasing a puff of smoke every now and then. It was Sarutobi who spoke first.

"I suppose you want to know, 'why am I here?'" The old man stated.

Naruto nodded. "Well, the reason I ordered my Anbu to retrieve you was to get your input on the situation. Mind you, we already have had your sensei give his side of the story, but now we need you to give us your interpretation of what happened."

Naruto nodded. "Okay so would you need from me?"

The old man crossed arms and leaned back into his chair. "This is where you come in. Now, explain to me why did you steal the forbidden scroll. Do you know the consequences of such an act?"

Naruto shrank a little in his seat. "I only stole it because Mizuki said to get extra credit, I needed to steal the scroll from the tower without being detected and then I would pass."

The Hokage uncrossed his arms and opened his drawer. Naruto wondered what the old man would take out of the drawer but was disappointed when all he saw was a smoking pipe. "Go on, I am listening."

He cleared his throat and began speaking again, "what else would you like to know? I mean there isn't a lot to say."

After lighting his pipe, Hiruzen breathed out a puff of smoke. "Tell me how you actually obtained the scroll. Make sure you leave no important details out."

He nodded. "Okay I got the scroll because I opened your window and climbed inside-"

"My office is guarded by my personal Anbu. How is it that a freshly graduated Genin managed to even step foot into my office undetected. Better yet, how did you even open the window in the first place?"

Naruto blinked before cocking his head sideways. "Oh, the window was open the entire time. On my way home, I saw this white haired guy with red lines on his face leap out of your office. The guy left your window unlocked by wedging something in between the cracks, so I thought 'why not use that as my entrance'. Besides, doors are for chumps."

If the Sandaime was a lesser man, his pipe would've dropped from his mouth, lit his desk and paperwork on fire, (not that he would particularly care about the paperwork) and start cursing the existence of his idiotic former student. Leave the goddamned window unlocked by wedge and better yet, being so careless that even a newly graduated Genin could see and figure out the mechanic of entering the office undetected. He was going to severely maim Jiraiya next time he saw him. Not kill because he still needed his spy network.

The Sandaime nodded. "Alright. Now tell me what have you discovered from the scroll itself."

Naruto put his hand on his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. "When I managed to get to the run-down cabin that Mizuki told me to go to, I got bored and opened the scroll."

Hiruzen leaned forward and laced his fingers together. "What exactly did you learn."

Naruto's eyes gleamed. "Oh, I learned a cool Jutsu. Even if it is a Bunshin, I learned the Kage-Bunshin no jutsu. Pretty cool right?"

This time the pipe really did fall from his mouth. Sadly none of his papers burnt. He refrained from standing up, "How in the Shinigami's name did you learn the Kage-Bunshin?! You must have wasted enough chakra to kill one of my regular Jounin! It's improbable, impossible, unthinkable! You shouldn't even be alive!"

Naruto, shocked by the Sandaime's sudden outburst, just sat in his chair, eyes wide. When Hiruzen calmed down, he realized what he has done and apologized. "I'm sorry for my sudden outburst my child, but to know that a fresh Genin could actually perform one of the most dangerous Kinjutsu Konoha has in its arsenal is quite unbelievable. In fact, it _should _have killed you."

Recovering from his shock and nodding at the apology, Naruto replied. "I don't know on how it could have killed me; I mean I felt really tired after a couple of times where I messed up, but after a few minutes I felt just fine."

Hiruzen's eyes widened. 'Could it be...?' He stood up and walked over to the window, pipe back into his mouth as he stared over the village. The view of the night at night was always calming and gave him the feeling of peace. He turned back towards the young boy sitting in his chair, looking quite confused at his sudden silence. He spoke up, "Ah, Naruto was it?" The boy, now named Naruto, nodded. "Very well then Naruto, I have come to the conclusion that you will _not_ be put to death or have any consequence attached to your actions. Especially since you were following your sensei' instructions. After all, I cannot punish a Genin following his superior officer's orders now can I?"

He snuck a glance towards the boy whose facial expression changed from irritated with slight worry to disbelief and shock before quickly turned to relief and happiness.

"You mean I'm not going to get in trouble?" Naruto asked.

The old man gave a hearty laugh. "Of course not. Although I must make sure you are in good condition for your team placement meeting three days from now."

Naruto nodded albeit uncertainly. "So I have to go to the hospital?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "No, I do not believe that we should bother the hospital staff with any minor wounds such as a scrape or two. No, I will heal you myself."

The blonde haired boy's eyes widened. "_You_ can heal me?"

The Hokage laughed once more. "Do you forget, I _have_ trained the Sannin, I think that training Tsunade in the medical arts was a good idea if I do say so myself."

Naruto's eyes widened even further. "Y-you trained the Sannin?! That's so cool!"

Hiruzen just 'hmmed'. "Yes I think so too, though I am surprised that you didn't remember that particular piece of information. It was a part of the Academy curriculum if I am not mistaken." He turned towards Naruto pipe put away. "The reason I'm not sending you to the hospital is because they cannot perform this technique that I am about to perform. You see, since you have used the Kage-Bunshin many times as you have told me, and are not lying on the ground; body spasming out of control due to chakra depletion, I will take it upon myself to check your chakra coils to see if they are damaged in anyway."

He began a string of random hand signs. "I wish to apologize for my actions, Naruto."

Naruto blinked. "Hu-?" He was cut off by a chop to the neck which sent him into unconsciousness. Hiruzen looked at the young boy in his arms sadly. "Once again, I apologize." He then began the real set of hand signs for the technique. After stopping on the eighth sign, he mentally spoke the name of the technique and closed his eyes.

* * *

When he awoke, he found himself in a grand room he could not help but relate to the design of home of the Fire Daimyo. Although it was different in color, the architecture was very similar. The room, which would be a compliment to rooms everywhere, was a magnificent throne room that seemed to be never-ending in terms of height. The entire room was golden in color except for the set of doors which were a midnight black color. As Hiruzen walked towards the set of doors, he picked up a slight malevolent feeling coming from behind those doors. As he reached to door he saw a red aura consume the door before vanishing as quickly as it appeared.

Without deterring from his original plan of action, the Sandaime pushed to door open and readied himself for any unwanted surprises. When the doors opened to their full extent, the path before him suddenly lit up as torches flared to life before him. He continued on his way as the way before him suddenly changed from hallway to sewer. Looking behind himself, he saw that he did not teleport to another area but the rooms literally changed halfway from a dimly lit hallway to a sewer with an eerie light illuminating the floor beyond him.

Shaking his head at the odd fixtures of the young boys mind, he continued to where he felt the killing intent was focused the most. Once he felt like he reached his destination, he raised his hand to open the door.

Suddenly, visions attacked him as the figure of a gigantic fox with nine tails appeared before him and roared, the shockwaves of the roar sending him out of his trance and blasting him to the wall with a slightly dazed expression adorning his features.

After removing himself from the wall, he stared at the indent of his body that was created by his impact with the wall with curiousity as it slowly reconstructed itself to its former pristine glory. Shaking his head once more, he walked up to the large set of doors before raising his hand hesitantly. After a few more moments of hesitation, he regained his courage and pushed the doors open.

Taking a deep breath, Hiruzen took a step foward and into the dimly lit room where he saw a large set of bars with a small slip of paper holding the bars together. From where he stood, he could easily make out the words printed on the paper. _Seal_, it said.

He walked forward until he could see the sleeping body of a gigantic fox, nine tails sprayed across the ground twitching at the slightest of sounds. He took a step back in shock just as the fox let out a large exhale from his nose buffeting the robes of the Hokage. He quickly released his technique just as the eyes of the fox opened, revealing the slitted pupils which shone a red color as the fox thought, '**Fool...'**

Once the Sandaime opened his eyes, he quickly stood up and took a large breath. He looked at the resting boy clothed in his black and orange jumpsuit. For some reason, the color scheme suited the young boy. But now wasn't the time to be appraising the boys choice of clothing. The sudden revelation shocked the old man to his core.

Konoha has another Jinchuriki.


	5. Chapter 5 Enter Kakashi

Naruto opened his eyes only to see nothing but a misty white. Beginning to panic, he moved his hands only to find that a kunai was already in one hand and that his left hand was bandaged. These details had not made anything easier to get accustomed to, but Naruto finally calmed himself to realize that he was a misty area. Straining his eyes to the best of their ability to see what was going on, he gasped when he saw a battered and bruised Sasuke standing over him riddled with needles. Sasuke had a dazed expression as he could barely stand up on his own two feet. Naruto saw Sasuke's mouth moved but he heard no words come from the Uchiha's mouth as the raven haired boy collapsed to the floor. Suddenly feeling uncontrollable rage burst from within him, he turned his head to the other shadowed figure and lunged at him, his fist nearing his face when-

Naruto woke up from his sleep and took a deep breath. He held a hand over his chest, feeling his heart beat through the confines of his chest as he tried to control his erratic breathing. Looking over at his clock, he saw that he woke up a couple minutes right before he needed to. Getting out of bed and stretching his limbs, he went to his bathroom to perform his daily rituals.

Coming out of the bathroom, he rushed to put on his beloved orange and black jacket and rushed out the door and into the Academy. Today was the day he was to be sorted into a genin team with his own sensei. Not being able to control his excitement, he sprinted to the academy not caring of the indignant shouts being tossed his way.

As he sprinted his way to the academy, he saw a large dust trail forming up ahead. 'That must be Sakura and Ino. Huh, figures they would have a 'race' on their way to the academy.' He thought. Without another moment of thought, he increased his speed to his max and sprinted passed the two bickering girls. Said girls pausing in the middle of the road seeing an orange and black blur shoot past them and in the direction of the academy. Shrugging their shoulders, they glared at each other before continuing the race to see who would sit next to their precious Sasuke-kun.

Not looking back as he passed the two kunoichi in training, he arrived at the academy doors. Jumping on the nearest ledge, he walked to his classroom's window and tried opening it, however finding that it wouldn't budge. "Tsk, now they decide to lock the windows? Great…" Naruto muttered. Reaching into his weapons pouch, he pulled a small scroll out. Placing the scroll on the ground, he opened it and channeled some chakra to retrieve from the scroll, his newly bought lock picking kit! Using the appropriate tool, he unlocked the window and sealed the kit away.

Naruto jumped inside and shut the window behind him before he heard a slight snort come from behind him. Turning around, he saw Natsuki looking at him with an amused expression. Blushing slightly before rubbing the back of his neck, he walked over to his friend and sat at the seat adjacent to her.

Natsuki giggled. "When I got here this morning, I expected you to come through the window so I locked it and waited to see your expression. What I didn't expect was you to pick the lock and jump inside without a care in the world."

Naruto narrowed his eyes and raised a finger in her face. "You traitor, how could you do such a thing?!" Crossing his arms and huffing, "I thought we were friends."

Natsuki sighed and shook her head. "Tell me why we're friends again?"

Naruto grinned cheekily. "Because you love me." Dodging the swipe to his head by a red faced Natsuki, he said, "Don't deny the truth, it's not good for your health." This time, she actually hit him.

Sulking in the corner of his seat with his eyes watering and lips quivering, Natsuki just rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the door where you could hear the ground trembling.

"First!" Ino and Sakura said simultaneously only to glare at each other for making the remark. Ignoring the other, Ino walked up to the bench where Sasuke sat and said, "Hey, Sasuke-kun, can I sit next to you?" To the trained eye, you could see Sasuke sweat slightly as his sister, Satsumi snickered at his misfortune. Luckily or unluckily, Sakura came to Sasuke's "defense". "Hey back off Ino-pig, he doesn't like porkers like you!"

Eye twitching, Ino replied, "Well, I'll bet that he wouldn't like to sit next to a girl with a large forehead either, wouldn't you Sasuke-kun." Literally seeing the sparks flow between the two girls, Naruto bravely stood up ignoring the wide eyed looks he was getting from the majority of the graduates and cleared his throat. Both girls turned their attention to the blonde haired boy and glared at him. Feeling as if he lost a couple years of life he nervously said "I-If you both want to sit with Sasuke, then why don't you sit next to him on each side. He has two open spots on each si-"

Before he could finish his sentence, both girls had already caught the meaning of his explanation and rushed themselves to either side of Sasuke. Seeing Sasuke glare at him while subtly closing himself in from the adoring look on both of his fangirls' expression and receiving a thumbs up from Satsumi, Naruto went back to his seat feeling oddly proud of himself.

At that time, Iruka chose to enter the classroom. He walked to his desk and was about to sit down when he suddenly stopped. Raising his head so fast that Naruto thought that Iruka cracked his neck he looked at where Sasuke was sitting with both Ino and Sakura sitting peacefully beside him. He shakily pointed a finger, "They're not fighting…? They're actually sharing?!"

Everyone looked away as Iruka went through a quiet mental breakdown before clearing his throat and pulling a list out of… nowhere. "Alright, before we get this show on the road, I just want so say to all of you that I am proud to have taught you all and will miss you dearly as you become shinobi of Konoha. Be warned that if you don't take your next step into adulthood seriously, you will die a gruesome death. But hey, if you get good enough, you might even be promoted to Chuunin like me, and then we would be equals."

Everyone smiled at their once teacher as they looked on anticipating the next piece of news. Wiping a tear from his eye and disguising it as scratching his nose, Iruka cleared his throat again. "Ok, what I have here in my hand is the list for team placements, where you all will be put onto three-man squads and assigned a Jounin instructor. My last piece of advice to you all before I announce who will be on which team is that no jutsu, illusion, or amount of out of this world strength is stronger than the bonds you all will have by working together and being a team." As Iruka unfolded the paper and started to name off the teams, Naruto sat back and thought about his sensei's words. 'no jutsu, illusion, or amount of out of this world strength is stronger than the bonds you all will have by working together and being a team… that sounds like something Iruka-sensei would say. So it doesn't matter how many jutsu you know or how good at being a shinobi you can be, it all comes down to trusting each other? I don't get but it sounds important.'

"-Will consist of Team Six, your instructor will be Uzuki Yugao. Now onto Team Seven. Team Seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto rose his head, eyes shining with excitement and curiousity, "Uchiha Sasuke," he let out a small wince. 'Great, I have a stuck-up bastard to deal with… Who next, dog-boy?'

"-and Haruno Sakura-"

"Yes! Haha Ino-pig, true love conquers all!" Sakura flashed the peace sign to her rival who seethed and complained as Naruto slammed his head on his desk, denting it. Beside him Natsuki hissed in sympathy. 'Why her, why her, why her?! Anything but her, she's as bad as dog-boy!'

"Oh, oops. It seems like I've made a mistake." Iruka said scratching the side of his head.

Sakura stopped cheering and looked at Iruka questioningly. "What do you mean, 'made a mistake' sensei? Am I on Sasuke-kun's team or not?"

Iruka rubbed the back of his neck and started searching through his desk. "Actually, this is the rough draft of the list. Hokage-sama and a couple of the elite Jounin made the proper corrections and I have seemed to have misplaced the proper list."

Sakura's eyes narrowed as she set her lips into a thin line. "That doesn't answer my question sensei. Am. I. On. Sasuke-kun's Team or Not?!"

Iruka snapped his fingers and retrieved the list from his vest pocket. After peering down the list and making sure everything was in order, he said, "Alright, every team from Teams one to six are still the same. Team Seven will now consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uzumaki Natsuki." Hearing his name called without Sakura's was music to his ears, well until he heard said pink haired girl screech and her fellow fangirl laugh in amusement. The next fact to register in his brain was the he was on the same team as Natsuki. He jumped up out of his seat and unto the desk and screamed, "Fuck yeah!"

About to do a victory dance, he then noticed everyone's eyes on him as he froze halfway into the starting pose of his victory dance. He looked down and saw Natsuki with her arms crossed as she smirked at his reaction and winked. Blushing redder than her hair, he quickly jumped down from the desk and tried to hide his blush by imitating a turtle.

Iruka sweatdropped. "Okay, now that, that show is over," that comment earned some snickers, " Team Seven's instructor will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight will consist of Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Uchiha Satsumi. Your instructor will be Yuuhi Kurenai. Team Nine is still in circulation since last year so Team Ten will consist of Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino. Your instructor will be Sarutobi Asuma." He ignored the complaints of Ino and moved on to the last team to be announced. "The final team, Team Eleven will consist of Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, and an apprentice of a respected elder; Sai. Your instructor will be Ten- I mean Yamato. That is all of the teams. Your instructors will be here in one hour, so I suggest you all get lunch before the hour is over."

With that last sentence, Iruka poofed out of the classroom. Quickly jumping out the window and onto the roof, Naruto sat back and caught his breath.

"Well I didn't expect your reaction to be so… _enthusiastic._"

Freezing up, he turned his head to meet the blue eyes of his friend. He fought to restrain his blush at his actions in the classroom. "W-well, I was just excited to not have Sakura on my team, you know?"

She smirked and hugged him from behind getting him to tense up in nervousness. "Oh, I know. I just found it hilarious." She finished talking by rubbing her cheek against his. Squeaking in nervousness, he jumped out of her reach and backed up a couple steps. As for Natsuki, she just started laughing.

"Oh Kami, you should've seen your face! It was so red! And that squeak was so adorable! You're so easy to tease Naruto." She said while catching her breath.

Naruto narrowed his eyes. "That wasn't funny Natsuki."

She nodded wholeheartedly, trying to stifle her giggles. "Of course. It was hilarious!"

Naruto just scowled and crossed his arms. Natsuki stopped laughing and stared at Naruto's face, making him drop the scowl from his features. She then rose a hand to poke his face but her hand was batted away. "Whoa for a second, your expression was just like Sasuke's."

Naruto's confused expression then turned into a horrified one. "No! Anything but that!"

Natsuki just shrugged her shoulders. "Well, let's forget about that and get our last teammate so we can get some lunch. I'm in the mood for some ramen, want to get some?"

Hearing Sasuke and ramen in the same sentence left a sour taste in his mouth, but hearing his stomach growl in hunger quickly erased any thought from his mind. "Sure where is the teme."

Natsuki rolled her eyes and turned around. "C'mon, I saw him go this way with his sister."

After following his friend to Sasuke's location and seeing him berate Sakura and Ino before leaving, Naruto said that Sasuke might not be in the best of moods at the moment. After getting a deadpan expression from Nastuki, they left towards Ichiraku's ramen and ate until it was time to get back to the Academy.

Reaching the Academy, the duo saw that most teams had already left with their instructors and that only team's seven, eight, ten, and eleven remained. Nodding towards Choji and Shikamaru while giving Kiba the bird while receiving one in return, he went to his desk and put his head down falling asleep.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes just to find himself in a training field. He tried to move his arms to scratch his head only to find out that he couldn't move a muscle. He could only watch on as his body moved on its own. He tried to move his toes but he couldn't even move those. His body suddenly stood up and began walking back and forth as if he was pacing himself. After a couple rounds, he was interrupted by a pink haired girl.

"Naruto! Just sit down." Said pink haired girl said. Without a moment to spare, Naruto's seemingly possessed body shot toward the general direction of Sakura. "I don't want to. How come our sensei is the only one five hours late? I'm ready to roll! Believe it!" As Naruto said that, his mind could only blank at what the hell he had just said. 'Believe it?! Why the hell would I say such a stupid thing. Kill me now.'

Thankfully or unthankfully, Sakura broke Naruto out of his thoughts. "We were told to go to the training field so that's what we're doing... But- hey what are you doing?!"

Naruto gave up trying to regain control of his body and went with the flow as he made an easily seen trap against the forest floor. "Heh heh heh!" His body moved back to where it was in the beginning. "That's what he gets for coming late! Surprise!"

The next thing he knew, his head was caved in by a seemingly enraged female fist. "You're asking for trouble! You know you shouldn't do that!" Is what was said on the outside, but on the inside, 'CHA! I **LOVE** STUFF LIKE THIS!"

After rubbing his head, something even his possessed body felt like doing, he heard a familiar male voice. "Our sensei is a jounin... An elite ninja. You think he's going to fall for that?"

Just as he said that, the trio could hear footsteps coming in from the only entrance of the training ground. All three moved thief heads to see a tall, silver haired man with a facemask and his forehead protector covering his left eye. He wore the standard attire of Konoha forces, consisting of an elite Konoha-nin flak jacket, dark blue pants and a long-sleeve shirt with the addition of wearing shorter fingerless gloves with metal plates on the backhand. "Hello..." Was all he said before he was caught by the horribly made trap.

"Ha ha ha! I got him! He totally fell for it!" Was heard coming from his mouth as he held his gut. Next Sakura began apologizing for the prank. "I'm sorry, sensei. I told him not to do it but he wouldn't listen. I'd never do anything like that." On the inside, it was a whole different story.

'He actually fell for that cheap trick? Is this guy really a jounin?' Thought Sasuke.

The man stood up and brushed off the dirt off his pants. He turned his head towards the little group of genin. "Mm, how can I put this? My first impression of this group... You are a bunch of idiots."

Ignoring the glares sent his direction, their jounin instructor picked at his ear with his thumb before saying, "Alright why don't you introduce yourselves. One at a time."

Raising her hand, Sakura asked, "Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?"

Rolling his only visible eye, the jounin said, "things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies... Things like that."

Just as he said that, Naruto moved foward and said, "Why don't you tell us stuff first. I mean before we talk tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work."

Sakura nodded her head. "Yeah..."

The jounin nodded. "Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I'm the jounin in charge of Team Seven. Things I like and things I hate... Mm, don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future... Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies: I have a lot of hobbies."

The three genin only had sweatdrops after hearing Kakashi's introduction. 'That was totally useless. All he really told it was his name.'

Kakashi brought his hand out of his ear and flicked whatever was on his finger away. "Okay, your turn. You on the right you first."

Naruto fist-pumped. "Alright! I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen at Ichiraku. Especially when Iruka sensei treats. You should try it also, Kakashi sensei, you'll like it too!"

Kakashi only lazily waved his hand. "Yeah, maybe some other time."

Naruto nodded in consent before saying, "I... I hate... The three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kind of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is to become the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody! Somebody important!"

Kakashi nodded his head. 'Well he's grown up in a very interesting way.' "Ok next."

Sasuke took this as his cue. "My name is... Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things and I don't really like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan... And destroy a certain someone!"

Kakashi sighed. 'Just as I thought. "Last one."

Sakura straightened her battle dress. "I'm Haruno Sakura. What I like uh... I mean the person I like is..." She turns he head toward Sasuke, "Umm... My hobby is, uh... Or my dream for the future is..." She couldn't finish her sentence for the random giggle and blush threatening to overtake her. "And what I hate is Naruto!"

Naruto mentally rolled his eyes. 'Whatever, it's not like I particularly care. Natsuki is cooler anyways.'

Kakashi only sighed. 'Girls her age are more interested in boys than in shining training. Looks like I have my work cut out for me.' Shaking his head, he cleared his throat.

"Good! You're each unique and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission now." Kakashi said.

Naruto jumped in the air, which was totally unexpected that he nearly but his tongue and said, "Oooh! What kind of mission are we gonna have?!"

Kakashi grinned under his mask. "It's a task but the four of us will do together. A survival exercise."

Sakura looked confused. "I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice. We already did the stuff in the Academy, that's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training." Kakashi said.

Sasuke grew a little irritated and said, "Then what is it supposed to be?"

Kakashi couldn't help himself. "Heh heh heh..."

Sakura, seeing her crush being laughed upon, stood up. "Hold on, that was a totally normal question. What's so funny?"

"Well, if I told you the answer, you're not going to like it."

Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly. "Huh?"

Kakashi then spoke again, "Of the twenty-seven graduates who just came here, only nine will actually be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make-it-or-break-it, pass-or-fail test. And the chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent!"

Silence.

"See, didn't I tell you, you wouldn't like the answer?"

Then he was woken up with a smack to the head.

* * *

Naruto shot straight into the air; one hand grasping where he was hit, while the other threw a pencil to the offender. Said offender easily dodged the pencil by moving his head to the left.

"Well, my first impression of you is that you need to be more aware of your surroundings." Said the silver haired man in a Jounin's garb.

Naruto rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glared at their sensei, who just ignored it and continued speaking. "Okay then, meet me and the rest of your teammates at the roof." With that said, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Stupid Kakashi. I'll get you eventually. Just you wait." Naruto grumbled as he made his way to the roof. When he got to the roof, he saw Sasuke, Natsuki, and Kakashi waiting for him. Sasuke and Natsuki were sitting on the academy roof benches while Kakashi was leaning against the railing.

Kakashi clapped his hands. "Ok, time for introductions. First off is the angry blond."

When Naruto was about to begin, Natsuki interrupted him. "But sensei, what should we say? Why don't you go first to give us an example, considering the fact that we don't know anything about you."

Kakashi shrugged. "Ok then. Follow this format; Your name, things you like, dislike, hobbies, and dreams for the future. I'm Hatake Kakashi, the jounin instructor for Team Seven. Things I like and things I hate... Mm, don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future... Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies: I have a lot of hobbies."

While Sasuke and Natsuki glared at Kakashi, Naruto just stared at Kakashi looking as if he has seen a ghost. 'Holy crap, that introduction was basically the same as my dream.'

Kakashi picked his ear and said, "Ok, now that you get the general idea, it's time for the brooding Uchiha to introduce himself."

Sasuke scowled. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I like some of my family. I hate a lot of things. I have no hobbies other than to train to become stronger. My dream is to revive the Uchiha clan and to kill a certain someone."

Naruto nodded. That wasn't that similar to his dream but still pretty similar. 'I wonder who he wants to kill so badly.'

Kakashi nodded. "Ok now that the brooding prince is done," that earned a glare from said brooding prince, "We can move onto the tomato."

Silence.

Naruto stared fearfully at Natsuki as her hair covered her face with a shadow giving her a menacing look. He scooted away from the girl and he saw Sasuke do the same, his scowl gone and a look of genuine fear etched on his face. Seems having a sister does that to you.

"Kakashi sensei…" Natsuki said with an eerily calm look on her face. "Tell me, what color flowers would you like on your gravestone."

Kakashi took his finger out of his ear and flicked whatever was on there in a different direction, seemingly bored at current events. "I don't know, maybe a daisy. Ooh, maybe a chrysanthemum. Why do you ask?"

Naruto and Sasuke began scoot even further when the killing intent and the anger seemingly disappeared. "No reason sensei. I was just wondering is all. Anyways, my name is Uzumaki Natsuki and I like ramen and sharp things. I dislike people who make fun of my hair and fangirls. My hobbies are to train and my dream is to become Hokage to ease the work load off of the old man."

Kakashi nodded. "Ok then. That was insightful. Now it's time for the emotionally confused blonde to introduce himself."

Naruto growled and said, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen and training. I particularly dislike anything, but that soon may change." He said staring at Kakashi, who was still picking his ear. "My hobbies are gardening and trying to learn new ninjutsu. My dream-" Naruto froze and tried to think of something to say. He didn't want to become Hokage like his dream self had loudly proclaimed. All he wanted to do was be the best shinobi he could be, but the best were Natsuki, Sasuke and his sister.

"Well, come on now, we don't have all day here. We still need to go on a mission." Kakashi said.

Naruto nodded scowling a bit for being interrupted. "My dream is… to surpass my teammates and to be the best shinobi I can be. This way I can be promoted before them." He said the last part playfully to Natsuki as she stuck her tongue out at him.

Kakashi nodded as he got off the railing. "Ok then, we'll have our first mission tomorrow. I'll let you guys rest today and then we'll go on it tomorrow."

Naruto was suspicious. This was different than his dream. "What's the mission about sensei?"

Kakashi eye smiled. "It's going to be a survival mission I reserved just for the four of us."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "Ok, then what's the success rate?" He said fearing the answer.

As predicted, Kakashi started laughing causing both of his teammates to look at their sensei with confused looks. "Ah, that was a good one kid. The success rate, ha!"

Natsuki narrowed her eyes. "Yeah what is the success rate sensei? It was a valid question."

Kakashi just shook his head. "If I told you, none of you would like the answer and probably quit like the others."

Sasuke snorted. "Naruto might, but I won't and Natsuki won't either. Just tell us the success rate so I can go home to prepare already."

Naruto scowled in Sasuke's direction. Kakashi just shook his head again. "Ok I'll tell you but you guys won't like the answer. This mission will have a fail rate of 66%. You guys only have a 33% chance of actually passing this mission."

Naruto jumped off the bench. "What! That's some Grade-A bull right there. Where are you going to be while we do this impossible mission?"

Kakashi pointed at himself. "Who, me? I'm going to be there tomorrow, you can count on it. I'll be participating as well. Just show up tomorrow." Kakashi nodded as he turned to leave the building leaving three stunned Genin by themselves but suddenly stopped. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you guys this," Kakashi looked at them with a serious look on his face. "Don't eat breakfast or you'll throw it back up tomorrow." Then he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Naruto could only say one thing. "Well Shit…"

* * *

**Sorry for not updating but my old computer died so I had to build a new one and I'm pleased to see that so far it's performing pretty well. I'll have the next chapter out before the 27****th**** of this month so stay on the lookout for it. Next Chapter is going to be the Bell Test and maybe the Wave Mission. Thanks and make sure to review by clicking that Review button down there. Yeah that one.**


	6. Chapter 6: Bell Test and First Mission

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own the plot.

Phrase of the day: Slaughter is just laughter with an 'S'

To the reviewer Kit: You said that both Naruto and Natsuki don't question why they share a last name? If you read Chapter 2, you'll see that Naruto accredits their sharing of last names as a clue to their familial relation. Plus, I made sure that Hiruzen arrived late to the sealing so he has no clue, thus the meeting with Jiraiya. Thanks for reviewing though.

To Shadow of the Fallen Sage: I think I love you- in a brotherly way ya know? Thanks for the support!

* * *

Naruto couldn't go to sleep. He stayed up all night just thinking of his weirdly similar dream and to Kakashi's last words before he disappeared.

'This mission will have a fail rate of 66%. You guys only have a 33% chance of actually passing this mission.'

Those words prevented him from sleeping that night. He tried making up some plans to help him on the mission tomorrow but soon gave up once realizing that making up plans wasn't really his forte. Before he knew, it was already morning and time for him to go to his mission meeting point. Too intimidated by Kakashi's statement on their success he ate breakfast and made his way to the training ground.

Seeing as he was the only one currently there he sat down at the base of the tree and closed his eyes and fell asleep. After a while his eyes snapped open and jumped out of the way as he narrowly dodged a granola bar, which fell to the floor harmlessly.

"You need to be more aware of your surroundings." A voice said from a couple meters behind him. Turning around he saw his male teammate Sasuke standing with his hands in his pockets. Naruto just rolled his eyes and tossed the bar back at its owner who caught it deftly. "Go ahead and eat that now, you'll need all the strength you can get later. I already ate at home."

Sasuke's eyebrows rose. "Didn't Kakashi say not to eat anything before the mission?"

They heard a snort. "Yeah like I'd go on a mission without eating first." They turned their heads to see Natsuki rubbing her eyes and eating a granola bar. "While he did say not to eat, I'm pretty sure he meant it as a suggestion rather than a command."

"That's twisting his words around. That's pretty evil." Sasuke commented. Natsuki smirked.

"That doesn't even cover it Sasuke." Naruto said with a wave of his hand. He smirked. "Calling Natsuki evil is saying Shikamaru is lazy. It's a huge understatement."

Sasuke snorted as Naruto got whacked in the back of the head. He felt phantom pains of when his sister would do the same when he accidentally insulted her. He knew that those smacks actually hurt more than they let on. It's a wonder how Naruto still could use his brain functionally.

"Well, it warms my heart seeing my little Genin playing around like that, but we need to start this mission." Said a familiar bored voice.

The three Genin turned their head towards the lowest branch of the closest tree. When seen, the Jounin just raised his hand and said, "Yo."

Naruto stood up and pointed his finger at their sensei. "You're late Kakashi sensei!"

Kakashi jumped off the branch and walked towards the Genin with one hand raised in the air and the other in his pocket. "Mah, I was only slightly late. The road of life is difficult to navigate you know."

Naruto crossed his arms angrily. "You said be ready for the training tomorrow and you're late!"

Kakashi nodded as he pulled out an alarm clock. "True, but I didn't say what time to be here. Anyways, I'm going to set this clock to noon. And put these two bento," he places said bento on top of the training posts, "Right here. Now, I'm going to debrief you all on the mission so gather 'round."

Kakashi leaned against the post, setting up his clock as he spoke. "The point of this mission is to take the bells I've attached here." He points to the bells which were hung on the loop of his pants. "That's all there is to this mission. If you can't get them by noon you go without lunch. You'll be tied to these posts and watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

Not hearing any stomachs grumbling he raises an eyebrow before shrugging it off. "There's only two bells! That way at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the Academy."

"What?! You can't do that!" Naruto shouted.

Sasuke's eyes hardened while Natsuki's eyes narrowed.

Kakashi finished setting up his clock and placed it on the post. He turned back to the Genin. "I can do this and more because I'm in charge of you three and have been given the power to do so. Any more dumb questions?"

Naruto growled but sat down not saying another word. His teammates hadn't moved from their positions.

Now that we got past the questions, I'll continue my debriefing- if it's ok with you." Kakashi said pointedly. Naruto blushed but stayed quiet. Nodding, Kakashi began again.

"It will be all three of you versus me so I'd advise you all to use real kunai and shuriken. If you're not prepared to hurt me, you won't be able to take the bells."

Kakashi paused. Seeing none of his subordinates react he grins slightly. "Heh heh heh... How can I say this... I'm actually starting to... like you guys."

Kakashi took his hands out of his pockets and turned fully towards the Genin. "Get ready... Annnd... START!"

With that, the Genin disappeared.

* * *

Naruto landed on the ground after separating from his teammates. He saw Kakashi from his vantage point hidden between the tree's leaves. 'Ok time to get the bells.' Naruto thought as he made some clones and sent them around the perimeter of the field. "A ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively." He heard from Kakashi below. Naruto grinned. Kakashi wouldn't know what hit him!

After a while he figured they were in position and threw some shuriken at Kakashi from his position. Seeing Kakashi catch them with two fingers by the holes, he used the tree as a boost and propelled himself towards the sensei. "Take this!" Naruto shouted as he positioned himself to kick Kakashi. Kakashi ducked right as Naruto flew passed him overhead.

Kakashi stood back up and scratched the back of his head. "You know compared to the others, you're a little bit... weird. And troublesome. As much the Nara would say."

Naruto smirked as he made a signal with his hands. He dug his hands into his shuriken holster and grabbed five in each hand. "Why thank you. Dodge this!" Naruto said as he threw his projectiles at his sensei as fifty others followed from the trees above them.

Kakashi's eyes widened slightly as he grabbed a tenth of the projectiles and threw them at different locations at the trees. Hearing multiple 'poofs' he turned his attention back at his orange and black wearing Genin. 'Naruto knows the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu?' He instinctively moved his hand into his kunai pouch and grabbed a kunai when he saw Naruto throw more shuriken and weave handsigns right after throwing them. "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Ten shuriken bacame fifty as Kakashi thought 'His academy files didn't have that jutsu listed down. Did he learn it when he stole the scroll?'

Not having more time to think as fifty deadly projectiles headed towards him, Kakashi took his kunai out of his pouch and used said kunai to deflect the shuriken. Resisting the urge to throw the kunai at his shocked student, he pocketed the kunai and began digging through his pouch, bringing his student back from his shock.

Pulling out his book, Kakashi began reading it. Looking up from the corner of his eye, he saw his student's face getting slightly red and said, "What are you waiting for? Make your move."

Naruto hesitated. "But... I mean, why are you reading the book in the middle of our fight?"

Kakashi didn't look up from his book as he turned the page. "Why, to find out what happens in the story of course. Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it really doesn't matter if I'm reading or whatever."

Naruto growled before he took notice of the title. "Wait what? Icha Icha Paradise? You can't be serious! You can't read while I'm attacking you! Why are even read that in public in the first place?!"

Kakashi looked disgruntled. "Hey, this is quality writing. It's not something a kid like you could appreciate."

Naruto snorted. "We'll see you soon enough." With that, he charged Kakashi and punch him who raised a hand to block it and then turned the page again. Naruto, off balance, fell forward and pushed off the ground with his hands with a mule kick which Kakashi dodged by moving out of the way.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto crossed his fingers into the Kage Bunshin handsign and made five copies of himself. Kakashi looked up from his book for a second before shrugging and continued to read it. Seeing this, Naruto grinned before he and his clones began to throw shuriken and together wove handsigns of the Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu once more.

Once the shuriken hit Kakashi he exploded into smoke and was replaced with a log. Naruto and his cloned stopped and began to look around. Not seeing anything, they slowly moved towards each other with their backs.

"I don't see him. What about you?" One clone asks.

Clone 2 shakes his head as well, still looking around. "Can't see him on my end either."

Naruto, the original, palmed a smoke bomb just as he heard, "You really need to be more observant of your surroundings Naruto."

Freaking out, the clones jump apart and throw kunai at Kakashi, who without a moments notice, grabs the kunai, deflects the others, and throws it at a Naruto who bursts into smoke. Kakashi then grabs another Naruto by the arm and throws him into a clone, which both burst into smoke. Naruto and his last clone jump even farther as the Jounin, with speeds greater than what Naruto could comprehend, rushed and punched him in the chest sending him flying and went behind the other Naruto. Hearing and seeing smoke from the location of where he punched the other Naruto, he formed the Tora handsign and brought a little chakra to his hands. Kakashi gained a glint in his eye as he thrusted his hand upwards towards Naruto's behind. "Sennen Goroshi (One Thousand Years of Death)!"

Right as he made contact, Naruto burst into smoke and the field became silent other than the snickering of his female Genin and the whistling of metal cutting through air.

Sasuke cursed as his shuriken hit a Kawarimi log. 'Kakashi probably knows where I am. I gotta move!' He thought as he jumped from tree to tree. Apparently moving in a circle, he found himself back in the field where Naruto put up a decent attempt in grabbing a bell. 'I wonder where he learned those Jutsu from?' He thought as he landed on the ground sending dust from his landing. Feeling as if something was wrong, Sasuke moved around looking for Kakashi when he found his sister, Satsumi bleeding with all sorts of weapons ranging from kunai to swords and senbon stuck all over her body. "S-Sa-Sasuke. H-he-help me..." She said as she lifted her head up showing she lost one eye. Sasuke was tempted to go and help her or go and kill whoever did this to her, but realized something important.

"Tch, Kakashi, if you're going to do a Genjutsu, do it right." Sasuke said annoyed.

The world around him distorted until he saw Kakashi. Said Jounin, stood with his book still out while saying, "Well, you passed the Genjutsu test. Now let's see about your other skills."

Sasuke smirked. "You'll see I'm not like the rest."

Kakashi snorted. "Say that after you get one of these bells."

Kakashi turned a page. "This will be interesting...fighting someone from the Uchiha clan."

"Hn." Was Sasuke's verbal response before he dashed to Kakashi and went for a punch.

'Hmm... Straightforward just like his teammate. I was expecting more.' Kakashi thought as he blocked the first punch.

Sasuke only smirked before be leapt back and threw shuriken in a wide arch around Kakashi. The masked jounin reacted by turning a page in his book. "Well, I can say that Naruto has you beat when it comes to throwing projectiles." He says earning a scowl from the raven haired Genin, which then turned into a smirk as the shuriken wrapped around Kakashi that prevented him from moving an inch.

Kakashi held onto his book in shock. "You attached ninja wire to the shuriken?!"

Sasuke replied with "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu)." At which a large fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth and headed towards Kakashi who substituted with a log. Sasuke cursed and jumped just as Kakashi's hands came out of the ground.

When Kakashi removed himself from the ground he asked, "How did you know I was underground?" Sasuke replied, "My sister pulls the same move whenever we spar."

Kakashi nods and sticks one hand into his pocket. "Ok then. I still have to see how you are different from your teammates."

Sasuke scowls and throws two kunai and rushes the Jounin with another. Kakashi uses one to deflect the other and clashes blades with the Uchiha. Said Uchiha leaps back once more before throwing his kunai at the Jounin and pulling himself on top of a tree branch. The Jounin is just about to grab the kunai when he hears a sizzling coming from the kunai in his hand. He immediately drops the kunai as the one Sasuke threw hits the ground sizzling as well.

Sasuke looks at the explosion checking if Kakashi escaped when he is kicked in the back by the Jounin. He crashed into the ground and rolls uncontrollably for a few meters before sitting up cradling his rib from the impact with the ground. "So this is a Jounin..." Sasuke says with pain and excitement.

He rolls out of the way just as a kunai hits the ground and Kakashi lands in front of it. Picking the weapon up he says, "Well, I have to say I'm disappointed. Naruto put up a better fight than you. All you're doing is dodging. So much for the great Uchiha clan."

Sasuke grits his teeth before chucking the last of his kunai at Kakashi. The Jounin dodges the attack by ducking but is met with the knee of the Uchiha. His head is forced up as Sasuke kicks Kakashi in the stomach. The Jounin crashes against the tree letting out a grunt as Sasuke throws more shuriken that pins Kakashi to the tree.

Catching his breath, Sasuke walks up to Kakashi all the while picking up the kunai the silver haired man dropped and held it at the ready as he approached the Jounin. "Hmph, I'll take that bell." He says out of breath.

Right as Sasuke was within meter, Kakashi burst into smoke as shuriken wrapped around Sasuke binding him to the tree face first.

"You have talent. And you were right. You proved different from Naruto. But the person you were fighting was a Kage Bunshin." Kakashi said.

"Arg!" Sasuke said, his face stinging from the impact with the tree. Kakashi walked up to Sasuke and took the kunai from his hands. "I'll take what was mine, thank you." He said before disappearing in a burst of smoke.

'Well, there is one more left. Let's see what she can do...'

* * *

Natsuki sneezed as she jumped from tree to tree. She watched both fights between her teammates and Sasuke and was taking Kakashi's skill into observation. With Naruto, he made him angry and exploited a weakness which was pretty noticeable. She tried helping Naruto out with sending shuriken when she saw his Kage Bunshin do the same, but was hit with one of the shuriken Kakashi threw back and retreated while bandaging her arm. She still laughed at the Sennen Goroshi trick. With Sasuke, he used brute force and pummeled the Uchiha pretty badly. She tried helping Sasuke out but couldn't find any opening to help and before she knew it, Sasuke lost. She knew she was the last one and hated being saved for last. She stopped jumping from tree to tree when she saw Kakashi waiting for her in the same field where he fought Naruto.

"Well, all that's left is you. So what are you going to do. Rush me head on like the others?" He asked.

Natsuki smiled which caused the Jounin to involuntarily take a step back. "No, I'm going to take the bells from you."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Natsuki burst into smoke. "Yes really." Kakashi heard from behind him as he burst into smoke. Natsuki frowned as the bell she grabbed turned to smoke as well. The next thing she knew, she was kicked in the back and sent flying towards the stream.

Falling into the water, she made some Kage Bunshin, and transformed half into kunai and jumped out of the water with the other half of her clones and rushed Kakashi.

"So," he said, "You know the Kage Bunshin as well." He blocked a punch and kicked a clone into smoke.

She shrugged as she threw the transformed kunai at Kakashi which he dodged. "I can't do the regular clone technique so I asked Hokage-sama if he knew an alternative."

Kakashi rose an eyebrow as he punched a clone in the head and threw the other clone in front of another sending both into smoke. "And he just gave you the technique?"

Natsuki nodded her head as she threw the last of her kunai at Kakashi where he deflected them with his own and threw his at her. "I've known him since forever and it was my birthday so he asked me what I wanted. Besides, he knows of _it _messing with my chakra control. So he gave me the Kage Bunshin."

That made Kakashi stop right as he punched the last of the clones making it dispel. "So you know huh?"

Natsuki nodded. "Ever since I made Genin. He told me the truth. I know I'm not a monster."

Kakashi smiled. "Well that's good. Now you're not getting a bell if you're just going to sit there you know."

Natsuki smirked. "I know, now how about you pay attention before I beat you." Then she rushed Kakashi.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "What is with these kids and rushing people." He muttered under his breath as he tried to take a defensive stance. Tried being the keyword as he found himself unable to move. "Gotcha sensei." A clone muttered behind him as he put the pieces together. 'Ah, she transformed the clones into kunai and had one sneak up on me. Not bad, but not good enough.' He thought as he substituted with Naruto who had just then jumped out of the foliage and onto the battlefield.

"Gah!" Was Naruto's exclamation as he was punched in the face by Natsuki. The clone behind him popped as he was hit so he went flying next to the edge of the stream.

"Shit..." Muttered Natsuki as she made her way to check up on Naruto as Sasuke smirked as he landed near them.

Naruto held his head as he said, "R-Remind me next time _not_ to piss you off. That _hurt_ya know?"

Sasuke snorted. "That's what you get for rushing ahead."

Natsuki laughed before she realized that Sasuke was free. "Don't tell me, Naruto freed you from you intimate relationship with the tree?"

Sasuke blushed as Naruto snickered before clutching his head in pain. Natsuki sighed. "So I guess that we all got our asses handed to each other?"

Grudging nods from both boys were the answer. She sighed again. "Look," she said getting both of their attention. "We only have a few minutes left and if we don't get one of the bells, one or maybe all of us are going back to the academy. So we need to work together to get the bells."

Naruto gained a confused look on his face. "If we work together, won't only two of us get bells?"

Sasuke was silent as he tried putting together the facts. His face lit up in realization. "This was a ploy."

Both Naruto and Natsuki turned their head towards Sasuke with eerie synchronization. "What do you mean?" Natsuki asked as Naruto nodded.

Sasuke nodded. "This was set up from the beginning to make us fight each other to see who would get the bells first."

Naruto's face lit up with realization as he continued. "Yeah, so Kakashi said that with two bells and three of us, only two of us would pass."

Natsuki then realized the same thing and narrowed her eyes. "So the entire test was bull an-"

With that, the alarm went off. A chorus of crap went off as Kakashi appeared in front of them. "Well, looks like time is up."

* * *

All three Genin were tied to the post as Kakashi stood in front of them with an unreadable expression on his face. Then he heard all three stomachs growling as he grinned under his mask. Although he kept a check on his voice as he said, "Uh oh... Stomachs growling, huh? That's too bad. By the way, about this exercise..." The Genin's looked at his face with expectance as he said, "Well, I've decided... I won't send any of you back to the Academy."

Naruto was first to speak. "What?!" Sasuke and Natsuki were surprised as well. "So that means that all three of us-"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, all three of you... Are being dropped from the program. PERMANENTLY!"

Silence.

Sasuke growled. "What do you mean, 'Drop us from the program'?!"

Naruto agreed vehemently. "Yeah! You said you couldn't take the bells, we'd be sent back to the Academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that?!"

"Because some of you don't think like ninja." Kakashi said gaining shocked looks from the three children. "You think like little kids... Like brats..."

Sasuke grunted as Natsuki grit her teeth. Naruto just hung on the post with his mouth open in disbelief. "None of you know what it means to be a ninja." Kakashi continued. "Why do you think we put you on squads. Did you even consider that question for one moment?"

This time Natsuki spoke. "I don't know what you're talking about by right before the test ended, we figured out the meaning of your stupid test."

Kakashi rose an eyebrow. "Really now, then what was the meaning of the test. Tell me."

Sasuke spoke up. "The meaning of the test was to drive us apart with the idea of two bells and three of us so we would fight over who would get the bells first when it was all a ploy."

Kakashi nodded. "Yes the entire thing was a ploy. I purposely pitted you against each other. Do you know what was the true meaning of the test?"

All of the Genin's expressions turned confused. "Judging by your faces, I guess not. I'm honestly surprised. It's so basic, teamwork!"

All three were surprised about this revelation. None of them thought about that.

Kakashi snorted. "That's what I mean. It's too late now, but if all three of you had come at me you might have been able to take them. No, scratch that, from what I've seen, you _would_ have been able to take them."

Naruto scowled. He was so close to passing but he didn't realize the meaning of the test until it was too late.

"But it barely crossed your minds did it?" Was said by Kakashi as it broke them out of their thoughts.

"Natsuki knew instinctively that Naruto needed help and so she helped him when he sent his clones to hide within the trees. When they attacked, she attacked as well only to retreat when I destroyed the clones and injured her. The next example was when I was testing Sasuke. She was there but I made sure she couldn't do anything so when she saw that I defeated him, she left. Not much she could do there except, I don't know... _Free_ your teammate?" Kakashi said while Natsuki grinned sheepishly.

"Instead, it was Naruto who freed Sasuke, which I'm surprised considering, from what I've seen, you two despise each other." Kakashi said as Naruto attempted to shrug and Sasuke grunted indifferently. "The sad thing was, you found out the meaning far too late."

Kakashi stepped back as he took a glance at the clouds. The Genin were silent as they watched the masked Jounin. He then walked passed them and started speaking again. "Did you notice the stone back here? The names engraved on it? They are all ninja or honored as heroes of our village. They are a special kind of hero... They were all lost in battle."

All three were shocked. Naruto hung his head as he was going to say that he wanted his name to be engraved on the stone.

"This memorial stone... Has the names of my closest friends engraved on it."

Nobody said anything. The atmosphere was too sullen for anything to be said. Kakashi walked back and stood in front of the Genin.

"Alright!" He said, shocking them out of their sullen attitude, "I'm going to give you one more chance. But I'm gonna make it much harder on you."

He threw two kunai at Sasuke and Natsuki. The ropes binding them fell to the ground as he picked up the undisturbed bentos. "eat lunch now to build up strength... But... Naruto doesn't get any."

Naruto was shocked. "Why not?!"

Kakashi shrugged. "Out of all three attempts of trying to get the bells, yours was a close call for the worst. In fact if Sasuke didn't manage to bind me he would be the one without food. Your attempt, while good, let both of us discover what you need to work on. Being more aware of your surroundings."

Naruto growled as Sasuke smirked. Natsuki shook her head. "I told you Naruto." He stuck his tongue out at her.

Kakashi coughed into his hand to get their attention. "If anyone tries to feed him, the person will fail _immediately_! I make the rules... your job is to follow them! Got it?" He said as he disappeared.

Natsuki and Sasuke looked at each other before nodding and using the kunai left behind by Kakashi to cut Naruto out of his ropes. Naruto, on the other hand, was shocked. "Guys, you heard what he said-"

"Yeah we don't care. You heard his speech on teamwork. After all that do you really think he'll care if we free you or let you have some food?" Natsuki said as Sasuke nodded.

"Although I'm not... Happy about it, you're our teammate and to be honest, we could got stuck with Kiba or someone worse." Sasuke said as Natsuki laughed. Naruto grinned and was about to help himself to some of the food when the sky grew dark and thunder rumbled. The earth shook and the Genin saw a blurry Kakashi speed towards them. "YOOOUU!"

Naruto backed up slightly and mumbled, "Probably wasn't a good idea to talk so loud..."

Natsuki heard this and smack him on the arm. "Idiot... Either way, we have to fight and get those bells as a team."

Sasuke heard this and grunted. "I agree."

Kakashi stopped in front of them as he said, "You all pass!" With an eye smile.

The Genin looked at Kakashi with deadpan stares. "Well," Naruto said, "That was anticlimactic." Natsuki and Sasuke nodded as Kakashi cleared his throat.

"You guys already figured out the test I had to do was make sure you didn't forget it. Which in retrospect, was stupid because I gave you the answer earlier. But there is one thing of Sensei-like advice I want you all to never forget. Those who break the rules are trash, true. But! Those who abandon teammates are worse than trash."

Naruto looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. 'That... Was cool. I gotta admit that. Just not out loud.'

"And," Kakashi said getting their attention once more, "If you guys didn't grasp the importance of teamwork, I was really going to kick you guys out of the program no matter how good you guys are, but you shared your lunch and stood together! And because of this you all pass. On a side note, our first real mission is tomorrow so go home and do whatever. Bye now." Kakashi said as he pulled his orange book out.

His students just sweat-dropped.

* * *

Naruto woke up as he remembered the events which happened yesterday. He grinned and prepared himself as he went to meet his teammates by the Academy entrance. If Kakashi would show up on time that is... If he did, then they would start their first mission. Naruto's grin didn't fade as he imagined what their first mission would be. 'Oh would it be rescuing a princess or even body guarding an important celebrity! I can't wait to find out!'

He and his teammates eerily arrived at the same time. No one chose to comment on it as they waited for Kakashi. After waiting for two hours, the newly made Genin started to get impatient.

"Ok where the hell is he?! He was supposed to meet us for our mission two hours ago!" Naruto ranted.

Natsuki agreed until she remembered one crucial thing. "Oh crap!" She said making both Naruto and Sasuke turn their attention to her.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked. Natsuki looked at him with shock. "We weren't supposed to meet in front of the academy, we're supposed to meet sensei at the mission reception office _inside_ the academy."

Sasuke's eyes widened at that. "Oh... Oh shit."

Without another word, they all dashed inside the building and saw Kakashi appear in front of the mission reception door with an apologetic look, if you can call it that with his mask on, on his face as he said, "Sorry for being late, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around."

Naruto, Sasuke, and Natsuki just shook their heads while they gestured to the door. "Ah right, we still have to go get our first mission. Are you guys excited?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto entered the room grinning and beaming with excitement while Natsuki followed. Sasuke shook his head and entered with a small smile on his face.

The mission reception office is located within a huge, wide-open space with six windows and high ceilings with two stick-like lights. The ceiling also has the kanji for the word "shinobi" printed on it as well as a white banner with the kanji that says "mission assignment this way" on one wall and on the other is another banner that says "everybody, do your best". Sitting on the desk is the Hokage himself, Sarutobi Hiruzen and past academy instructor; Umino Iruka. Beside them are a large amount of scrolls seperated by bins that are classified as A through D. Hiruzen sees Kakashi arrive and said, "Ah, Kakashi. Didn't keep your Genin waiting too long I hope."

Kakashi laughs sheepishly, "Honestly, they didn't even seem to mind. It was as if they were late as well."

They all caught the guilty looks the Genin sent each other. Hiruzen coughed and said, "Well then, I suppose it's time to give you a choice in what mission you want to partake in."

Iruka tried not to give away any expression while. Kakashi tried to stop himself from shaking from laughter as Sarutobi looked down as if searching through missions to hide his gigantic smile. "Let's see... You can either," at this point, the Genin leaned closer to hear what their leader was saying with rapt attention, "Weed the council-member Himako's garden, babysit the triplet children of miss Hamako, or looking after a scroll for someone I know."

Not being able to keep it in any longer, Kakashi and Iruka burst into giggles at the faces the three young Genin make. Hiruzen, being used to the hilarious looks on new Genin faces, simply smiles.

"WHAT!" The three Genin shout. Naruto looked like his dreams were crushed. Kakashi still was laughing although silently. It was shown by his body erupting in shivers that he was still laughing.

"Look Naruto," Iruka said calming down enough to explain the situation, "You're just a brand-new ninja with no experience. Like everyone else you take missions like these to develop your skills and improve yourself. The important missions will come later on."

Naruto looked surprised as he said, "Are you serious?! Babysitting is not a mission, it's just stupid, a chore!"

Natsuki smacked Naruto on his arm and said, "Naruto, even I don't like these missions, but we still gotta do them.

Sasuke huffed. "Yeah, even if they are stupid, we still got to take them." He said resignedly.

Naruto just grumbled. Natsuki stepped foward and said, "We'll take the looking after the scroll mission if that's ok?" She looks at both Kakashi, who managed to stop laughing, and the Hokage, who nodded.

"Stopping a ninja scroll robbery seems like a good beginner mission. What do you think Kakashi?"

Kakashi stepped foward. "That will be fine, thank you." He turned to his Genin, specifically Naruto, "You'll be able to take on more difficult missions soon enough."

Naruto nodded his head. "Ok... I guess."

The Hokage adjusted his hat. "Then it is settled... The mission for Team Seven is stopping the ninja scroll robbery."

Naruto fist pumped. "Alright. So where's the client."

Hiruzen smiled. "You're looking at him."

Natsuki gaped. "Really?!"

Hiruzen nodded. "I'll explain everything later, just come to my office. I'll be there shortly."

Kakashi nods and starts walking away. "That would be acceptable. Come on my cute little Genin, we have to leave so other Shinobi can receive their missions as well."

* * *

Later at the Hokage's Office

Kakashi and his three Genin entered the office to be surprised by the Hokage already sitting in his chair, pipe in hand.

Naruto rushed foward until he was a meter from the desk and asked, "How did you beat us here? We left you back at the mission reception desk."

As the rest of his teammates joined him, the old Hokage laughed and said, "You don't think you were the only one who can perform the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, did you?"

Nodding, Naruto stepped back as Hiruzen put his pipe down.

"There was a reason I couldn't talk about the mission at the reception desk." The Hokage said.

Sasuke piped in. "The reason, was so no enemy ninja eavesdrop on the conversation, am I right?"

Seeing the understanding looks on the other Genin's faces, the Hokage continued. "While good reasoning, Sasuke, that wasn't the reason why." Standing up and retrieving a piece of paper, the Hokage gave it to the three Genin. On it, was scribbled, 'The scroll that has Katon: Haisekisho (Fire Style: Burning Ash) is going to be mine! When I steal it, I'll use it against you and become Hokage. So don't you dare set any traps!"

Naruto sweat dropped. "It sounds like a warning... What kind of warning is this."

The Hokage spun his chair around to look over the village. "Exactly! It was left in my room this morning."

Natsuki looked at the warning more carefully. "Wait a minute... It's a kid's writing."

Sasuke looked at it as well. "So it's a prank? Now I understand why this is a D rank mission."

The Hokage nodded. "I already have an idea who it is. If it's who I think it is, then you guys will be fine."

Kakashi stepped foward. "Well then, if it's a prank I guess they won't need me for this mission."

Hiruzen nodded. "That's true. Your sensei won't need to participate this time."

Kakashi nodded. "Excuse me Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes." With that, Kakashi disappeared. Hiruzen turned back to the Genin. "The location of the scroll is in the small scroll shelf that is placed against the wall. It is the scroll with yellow outlining it. Remember to guard it well. So if someone tries coming to steal it, I want you to catch them."

Natsuki went to the scroll and picked it up to examine it. She placed it back and said, "You have nothing to worry about, grandfather. We got this, right guys?"

Sasuke nodded while Naruto said, "Right!"

Hiruzen smiled as he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke grunted. "Grandfather?"

Natsuki nodded. "I've known him since for as long as I could remember. I've always called him either old man or grandfather."

Sasuke nodded and then went to stand guard next to the shelf containing the scrolls. Naruto and Natsuki stood against the wall where they could see the scroll and jump into action at a moments notice. Suddenly, the room exploded into smoke as a smoke bomb hit the ground from the open window.

None of the Genin moved but they could hear the movement which came closer to the general location of the shelf containing the scrolls.

Naruto felt something bump into him as Natsuki and Sasuke opened the windows to let the smoke out. The figure hit the floor as the rest of the smoke left the office.

"Oww!" The figure said as he clutched his head. Seeing the smoke leave and the three Genin standing in front of the scroll shelf, the kid said, "Dang it! It's a trap!"

Sasuke asked, "Who's this kid?" Just as Natsuki face-palmed. "Damn it, not again Konohamaru!" She exclaimed.

The kid, now named Konohamaru, jumped in surprise and rushed Natsuki- only to give her a hug.

"Natsuki-nee! What a surprise. C'mon, you gotta help me steal the scroll the old man is hiding here. I know where it is c'mon you gotta help me!" Konohamaru exclaimed as he continued to hug her.

Naruto could feel the sweat drop on the back of his head grow even bigger. He looked over at Sasuke only to see his left eye twitching and his face a look of confusion. "Neh, Natsuki, who's the kid?"

Konohamaru released himself from his hug and spun around to glare at Naruto. "I'm not a kid, I'm a ninja. My name is Konohamaru! Remember it 'cuz I'm gonna be Hokage one day!"

Sasuke snorted. "Yeah and when that day comes, I'll have a giant smile on my face and sprout wings and fly off into the sunset." Naruto snickered at the image.

Konohamaru growled. "I _will_ become Hokage. And when I do, you'll be sorry!" With that, Konohamaru ran up to the shelf and grabbed the scroll. "With this scroll, I'll be the best- oomph!"

Konohamaru ran into Naruto again who growled and took the scroll from the kid and smacked him in the head with it. "Ow! That hurt. Don't you know who I am?!" Konohamaru said as a man who had dark hair and sunglasses appeared from the window. He wore the standard Konoha shinobi outfit, without the flak jacket and wore his forehead protector like a bandanna. "Honorable Grandson, are you ok? Did this ruffian cause harm to you in any way?"

Naruto snorted. "No, the kid ran into me and fell onto the floor and then took the scroll he tried to steal."

The man gasped. "Please tell me is not true, honored grandson of the Sandaime!"

The Genin's eyes, other than Natsuki, widened at the revelation. Go away Ebisu! You don't teach me anything so just leave me alone!" Konohamaru yelled as he left the office. The man now identified as Ebisu turned his attention to the three Genin. "What are you three doing in the office Hokage-sama! You say that you are guarding a scroll, but what are you actually doing here."

Sasuke grunted. "We are doing just that,guarding the scroll. We were assigned this mission by the Hokage himself."

Naruto joined in. "Besides don't you have to look after that kid. He is probably a couple blocks away by now. Good luck finding him."

Ebisu pushed his glasses up. "I already know where he is for I am an elite Jounin. Do not underestimate my skills."

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Yes well 'Mr. Elite Jounin,' your charge is getting farther away, you don't want to lose him, do you?"

Ebisu's eyes rose from behind his glasses as he rushed out of the window and onto the rooftops yelling, "Honorable Grandson, where are you!"

Team Seven sweat dropped as Naruto asked, "So, who were they? You seem to know the kid, Natsuki. Who is he?"

Sasuke grunted. "Didn't you pay attention? The kid is the grandson of the Sandaime and the other guys is his trainer."

Naruto growled. "I know is that! It's just that Natsuki seems to know who the kid was personally."

Natsuki smirked. "Yeah I know him. Knew him since he was born. He-"

Konohamaru burst back into the room gasping for breath as he fell to his knees. "I-I made it..."

Natsuki walked up to Konohamaru and helped him sit down on a chair. "So what did you do this time? Did you skip out on your training again?"

Konohamaru blushed. "N-No, I just-" he couldn't come up with a good excuse.

Naruto smirked at the kid while Sasuke wandered off to look over the village. "So how do you know this kid again?" Naruto asked.

Konohamaru glared again. "I'm not a kid. My name is Konohamaru! Remember it! And I know Natsuki-nee because I'm going to marry her once I become Hokage!"

Sasuke tripped while Naruto's mouth fell open. Natsuki sighed and rubbed her forehead while Konohamaru smirked at their reactions.

Naruto shook his head. "How the hell are you going to marry her, if you can't even become Hokage? You got knocked down just running into me!"

Konohamaru grit his teeth. "I will become Hokage. And that scroll will get the job done, so hand it over."

Naruto smirked. "Sorry, not a chance, your grandfather hired us to make sure you _don't_ get the scroll. If I just give you it, we'd fail the mission."

Konohamaru just pouted. "Then how am I gonna be Hokage if I can't beat the old man?"

Natsuki answered this, "You need to work on your other skills. The ones you were still practicing like the transformation and clone techniques."

Konohamaru crossed his arms and huffed. "But those are boring. They won't let me blow things up or burn things into ash!"

Naruto sat back listening to the exchange when he got an idea. "Ok, how about this." He said getting both Natsuki and Konohamaru's attention. "I'll teach you a Jutsu, only if you leave us alone for the rest of the mission."

Seeing Konohamaru's eyes sparkle at the mention of the words 'teach' and 'jutsu', he made a clone and had it join the guarding of the scroll while he took the young boy to the corner of the room.

"Ok, so the technique I'm going to show you is the Kage Shuriken no Jutsu (Shadow Shuriken). This basically let's you hide another shuriken in the shadow of the one you threw for a sneak attack. So when you throw one and miss, the other appears right after it making your opponent dodge because they can't hit a shadow. It works with any shuriken, or so I'm told, so you'll have fun no matter what." Naruto explained.

Konohamaru took out a notepad and pencil and started taking down notes. Naruto sweat-dropped. "Hey, Konohamaru, what are you doing?"

Konohamaru looked up with glasses that suddenly appeared on his face. "I'm taking notes so I don't forget later, why?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Taking notes is pretty smart- like in the academy, but what if someone steals them like you were with the scroll. Then they use the jutsu against you and your friends."

Konohamaru looked down, notes and glasses disappearing. "I don't have a lot of friends. It's because I'm the grandson of the Sandaime. People are scared of being friends with me and thanks to that, they all call me 'honored grandson of the Sandaime', not Konohamaru. All I have is Natsuki. And now since she is a ninja, she won't have a lot of time to play with me anymore."

Naruto looked at the kid with sadness. He knew what is was like to not have someone to hang out with or play with you until he entered the academy. Then he made friends with Shikamaru, Choji and Natsuki.

"You know what," Naruto said, getting Konohamaru's attention, "I'll be your friend too. Heck, I'm already your badass sensei for teaching you this, why not be friends too."

Konohamaru lost the defeated look in his eyes and smirked. "Yeah! And one day, I'll beat you to become Hokage!"

Naruto scratched his head. "Why? Don't get me wrong, I'd love to beat you to the ground any day at any time, but why fight me?"

Konohamaru grinned. "Because the student has to beat the sensei once they learn everything they can. Plus, we're gonna be fighting to see who can marry Natsuki!"

This caused Naruto and Natsuki to go as red as her hair and Sasuke to choke on his spit. Konohamaru frowned. "What? Is it something I said?"

After teaching Konohamaru the Kage Shuriken no Jutsu and getting him to forget about the scroll he said he would target, the members of Team Seven stood across from the Hokage with Kakashi standing next to them.

Hiruzen cleared his throat. "It seems that you've completed the mission. I want to thank all of you for your hard work. Here is the mission pay for each of you. You've done an excellent job for your first mission."

The Genin bowed. "Thank you Hokage-sama." The old man laughed. "No, thank you. I've been receiving reports of my grandson performing exponentially better since your mission. And of a certain... challenge that was issued."

Naruto and Natsuki blushed while Sasuke smirked. Kakashi giggled but that was because he was reading his book. "At any rate, you are all dismissed. I will see you all at a later date."

Once Kakashi led the Genin out of the mission reception, he said, "I want to let you know that I am proud of the way you guys guarded the scroll. You managed to protect a scroll that could have contained vital information. Said information could have been either useless or have the power to ultimately ruin Konoha. Not only that, you managed to sway the enemy against stealing the scroll. All in all, it was a job well done."

Naruto grinned while rubbing the back of his neck and Sasuke smirked while Natsuki rocked back and forth on her feet a large smile on her face. Kakashi started walking towards the training field. "Come on my cute little Genin. Just because you finished a mission doesn't mean you can skip out on team training." He said resulting in groans from the rest.

* * *

**Thanks for reading the story so far. I'll put up the Wave mission chapter probably before New Years Day, so look out for that. Thanks for reviewing this story, it makes me feel like I'm not some random loser writing what they think is going to be the best fanfiction on the entire goddamn site. So thanks for that.**

**Review by clicking that button. Yeah, the one down there. Riiight there.**


	7. Chapter 7: Begin Wave Mission

**To Umbra Venator: thanks for reviewing. The mysterious Hyuga will appear during the Chunin Exams. And you'll know who it will be during before the finals.**

**To UzumakiKirofu: thanks. I tried imagining the fight in my head and was pleased with the results. Thanks for reviewing.**

**To Guest (who reviewed after Shadow of the Fallen Sage): Thanks for reviewing. Your comment actually made me laugh. Thanks for that.**

**To LordHero: Honestly, I'm leaning towards sharing the main character spot but most likely it'll be Naruto. The Konohamaru crush was kind of a last minute thing to be honest. Thanks for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: First C-Rank Mission**

"I swear to god if we do anymore of these chores I'm going to go crazy!" Naruto exclaimed as he picked up a large potted plant.

"Hn. Hurry up so we can finish this mission." Sasuke grunted out.

Natsuki rolled her eyes. "Sasuke... Just do your job. Naruto... Just shut up. We're almost done so hurry up."

Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. He placed the large plant on its designated area before wiping his hands on the black of his jacket. "Hey guys, I'm done over here." He called out.

Sasuke entered the room, his hair all dusty and his hands grimy. Natsuki walked in with her hair in a bun and a large amount of dirt on her clothes and face. "I don't understand why he gave you and Sasuke the easy jobs of reorganizing the house while he gave me the harder task of pulling the weeds out." She mumbled.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh! The injustice of it all!" Naruto said sarcastically. Natsuki nodded her enthusiastically. "Finally, someone who understands my pain!"

When the Genin left the house, the first thing they saw was Kakashi talking to the owner of the house. When the Genin walked up to them, it seemed they finished conversing and the man gave Kakashi a folder. "Thanks for doing such a great job with the old place. I would've done it myself, but I had to do lots of errands." The man said.

Kakashi gave the man an eye-smile. "It was no problem Moritake-san. Just call us whenever you need a Genin team to do what you can't."

Moritake nodded. "I will keep that in mind. That folder contains the mission pay. Now for the rest of you, I want to thank you for a job well done. I hope you all have a nice rest of the day."

Naruto nodded his head respectfully. "No worries Moritake-san. It was our job."

Moritake laughed. "I see. Well, I'm sure you Shinobi have other things to do, don't let me hold you back. Goodbye now."

As they were leaving, Naruto asked, "Hey, Kakashi-sensei? Why are we doing these D-rank missions? They seemed more like chores rather than actual missions." Sasuke and Nastuki nodded their head in agreement.

Kakashi sighed. "There are two different purposes for having these types of missions." He said catching their attention. "The first reason being to promote teamwork between teammates. That is the reason we Jounin sensei are supposed to give you. The other and most crucial reason is to destabilize fear."

The Genin blinked. "To destabilize fear?" Sasuke asked. "What do you mean by that?"

Kakashi looked at his Genin. "Most civilians think of Shinobi as ruthless killers. We do these missions in order to show them that we are not just ruthless killers."

Natsuki's eyes widened. "Oh, so it's to show that we aren't going to flip out and kill everything in sight."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "That's what I said didn't I?" He said getting Natsuki to blush.

At the Mission Reception Desk

"Here is the report Hokage-sama. They did exceptionally well on today's mission." Kakashi said.

The Hokage smiled. "That's good to hear Kakashi. Know if you and your team want to do anymore missions we still have some left."

Kakashi looked at his team. They were looking disinterested yet still full of energy that seemed to be abundant for those their age. "Actually, I would like to see if there was a C-Rank available." He said surprising everyone in the room.

Naruto sped up to Kakashi, his eyes sparkling. "You really mean it sensei!" Kakashi sweat dropped while trying to pry his Genin off of him. "Ah, Natsuki, Sasuke, a little help here?" They nodded and helped get Naruto off of their teacher. They wanted a C-rank mission dammit!

Iruka looked concerned. "Are you sure that's a wise decision Kakashi? They've only been Genin for a couple months. Are you sure they're up to the task?"

Kakashi nodded. "We've been doing many drills together and their teamwork is surprisingly top-notch. They should have no problem with this mission since I'm participating."

Iruka didn't look convinced. "I ho-"

Just then, a man who has long, spiky, black hair and dark eyes came entered the room out of breath. He had a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and a light-coloured marking on his chin and wore the standard attire of a Konoha shinobi complete with a forehead protector and a flak jacket. He was breathing heavily as if he ran a long way.

"Hokage-sama. We have received news stating that the C-Rank mission you assigned Yuuhi Kurenai and her team has been upgraded to a B-Rank due to an encounter with the Demon Brothers, Gozu and Meizu. They have requested backup as soon as realistically possible." Said the exhausted Chunin.

The Hokage looked back to Kakashi. "Well it seems like we have an answer to your request. Although I would usually send in a team of Chunin to help assist Kurenai and her team, I think an elite Jounin and his team would be the next best thing don't you agree?"

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, usually I would disagree with you, but I think that two Jounin and two sets of Genin can protect a bridge builder." Kakashi turned to his Genin. "What do you guys think?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. 'My sister is a member of Team 8. I hope she's ok...'

Naruto was grinning so hard, Kakashi thought his face would split in half. Natsuki shook her head. "So she do we start?"

Kakashi nodded. "Hokage-sama, Team 7 accepts this mission and will leave at your command!" Hearing the Jounin talk seriously, the Genin unconsciously straighten themselves.

The Hokage looks at the Genin with a critical eye. "You are dismissed. Prepare for your mission and leave as soon as possible. Now go!"

With the command said, Kakashi grabs this students and uses the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body-Flicker) to appear at Kakashi's home. Naruto blinked. "Okay... how the hell did we get here?"

Kakashi didn't even listen. He moved through his apartment and got the necessary supplies and gave each of his Genin a backpack. "Look we don't have any time to waste. I want you to go to your homes as fast as you can and get all the necessities you will need on our mission. Our mission is a B-Rank so you will need weapons, clothing, and basic medicinal supplies. You need to pack appropriately. We leave in 10 minutes so I suggest you hurry up."

Without another word, the Genin scrambled off to their respective apartments frightened by their sensei's sudden seriousness and packed what they were supposed to. Once they got the necessities, they rushed to the main gates of Konoha. Seeing Kakashi already there shocked them, but not as much as his expression. It was dead serious.

Kakashi looked at his Genin. "Okay, before we leave I want to go over a quick equipment check. Open your packs and let me see what you have."

Doing as their sensei told them to do, they opened their packs as Kakashi observed them. 'Good, they all have what I told them to pack. Nothing seems odd except for the fact Naruto has more shuriken than kunai...' He mused. Spotting nothing of consequence, he ordered them to move out.

Once on the move, Naruto asked their sensei a question. "Hey Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked back at his orange-clad student. "Yes Naruto?"

Naruto increased his speed to match the pace his sensei set. "Where exactly are we going?"

Kakashi eye-smiled as he hopped over a puddle. "We are going to Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). More specifically, we are supposed to meet Team 8 at the clients house in Nami no Kuni. I have been given the address so we won't get lost. There, we join together with Kurenai's team and protect this bridge builder until he completes his bridge. Does that answer your question?"

Naruto hopped over a particularly large stone as he nodded. "Yeah. Will the other team be ok though?" He asked gaining Sasuke's attention. "That Chunin guy said that they encountered the Demon Brothers."

Kakashi nodded. "If they were able to send a message to our village, then they are most likely still in one piece. They most likely have defeated the Demon Brothers and requested backup soon afterword."

Hearing Sasuke sigh in relief, Naruto stopped asking questions. Team 7 continued on their way until Kakashi asked for a stop. "Why are we stopping sensei?"

Kakashi pointed at Sasuke, who was breathing heavily. "We crossed most of Hi no Kuni in a matter of hours. I'm a little surprised you aren't gasping for breath like Sasuke over here."

Naruto frowned. "I'm fine. Why would I be that tired?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Because unlike me, you're a Genin. I wouldn't expect you to have as much stamina as I would have. Natsuki, has a special bloodline, if you can call it that; that allows her above average chakra and stamina than a person her age, so I'm not that concerned for her."

Naruto looks at Natsuki who just waves at him. She didn't look tired at all. Once Sasuke regained control over his breathing, Kakashi reminded them that they only had ten minutes before they had to set off again.

"Hey sensei?" Naruto asked. "I was just wondering. Does Nami no Kuni have any shinobi villages?"

Kakashi lifted his head from his book. "There are none in Nami no Kuni, however there are shinobi in surrounding villages such as Kumogakure and Kirigakure. They are the closest to our destination. But the main point is, no. Nami no Kuni is a small country so there really isn't a need for shinobi."

Naruto nodded. "So that's why they came for us for help."

Kakashi nodded. "That's right. Now go and rest. I'll tell you when we are moving again." The orange-clad nods and goes to sit down on a large rock.

Getting bored easily, Naruto walks over to Sasuke, who raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything. Eventually, impatience overcame Sasuke and he asked, "What do you want."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know how to say this, but why did you look so concerned when the Chunin mentioned that Team 8 requested backup?"

Sasuke stared at Naruto for a while, before sighing. "My sister is a part of Team 8. I was hoping she was ok. Does that answer your question?"

Naruto nodded as Sasuke grunts before walking off. Turning around, he jumps at seeing Natsuki standing a meter away from him. She looks at Sasuke's retreating back and sighs. "He's worried for his sister. I would be too... If I had a sibling." She said.

Naruto looked at the ground. He wondered if Shikamaru or Choji would be worried for him if they knew he was on a B-rank mission. He would be worried for them. They were his friends. He looked up and smiled confidently. "Then," he said gaining the female Uzumaki's attention, "I guess we better hurry up and find Team 8 then. Don't you think so?"

Natsuki grinned.

After running for a couple more hours, Team 7 arrives at a secluded shack. Looking around, Naruto sees a boat tied to the shore and Kakashi knocking on the door of the shack. After a while, no one answered the door, so Kakashi tried knocking again; only for the door to open slightly.

"What do you want." A voice answers from the darkness from the shack. Kakashi merely says, "The Will of Fire gives the shinobi of Konoha the strength to continue fighting against all odds."

Once that was said, the door closed itself before the sounds of many locks being unlocked was heard. When the door opened, a man stepped out and flinched when his eyes came into contact with the sun. The man was tall, although not as tall as Kakashi. He wore a green short-sleeve shirt and straw pants that went to his ankles. He rubbed his eye before blinking. "Kakashi, is that you? Man I haven't seen you in ages."

Kakashi chuckled. "Well, I now have responsibilities." He gestured to his Genin with his head. Looking at the Genin he smirked when he saw Natsuki and Naruto. "Heh, the redhead reminds me of another one who hated being called a tomato, and the blonde reminds me of the flaky looking boy the redhead was head-over-heels in love with. Ah, that brings back memories. So what can I do for ya."

Kakashi reached into his pouch and pulls out a scroll. "This is a request for you to sail us across into Nami no Kuni. We are supposed to rendezvous with fellow Konoha shinobi for a mission where they called for backup. Think you can help me out one more time?"

The man grunted. "Yeah, why not. Not doin' anything these days either. Not since Gato started slowly sucking the place dry. I'll take you and your brats alongs. Come on then."

He gestured to behind the shack where Kakashi immediately followed. The Genin, not wanting to be left behind, quickly followed.

The two Uzumaki walked up to their sensei as Sasuke held back, his mind elsewhere. Once they caught up with their sensei, Natsuki asked, "Kakashi sensei, how do you know this man?"

Kakashi laughed. "I've known this man for quite the long time now. I've known him ever since I was in my old Genin team." He said earning surprised look from both his Genin.

Naruto's eyes brightened. "Hey sensei! Do you think we could meet your team soon?"

Kakashi, once he heard that, gave a fake smile that was easily identifiable through his mask. "I hope not. I wouldn't want to lose you three a couple months after getting you, now would I?" He said with a controlled voice.

Subtly getting the hint, along with the sharp elbow he got from Natsuki, Naruto changed the subject. "So where's the boat that guy said we're going on?"

Kakashi smiled. "Just wait a while, he'll get it out."

After hearing a loud crash, followed by some colorful vocabulary, The man came out of his shack pulling a large boat with a piece of rope. "So," the man said, "Y'all wanted a ride to Nami no Kuni?"

* * *

'That's it! I officially hate this day.' Kiba screamed inside his head as he ducked under the huge-ass sword that went flying past them. This mission was the worst thing that ever happened to him. No- wait, second worst thing that happened. The punishments his _mother_ gave him were the worst.

When the Inuzuka was first assigned his team, he was mostly indifferent. Sure he got the hot Uchiha, which was really, really ironic. He also got the quiet Aburame. Hence, his indifference. When he saw his sensei, he swore he died and gone to heaven, but when she tested them, they barely passed and he was covered in bruises from their teacher putting them against each other with Genjutsu.

Soon afterwards, they had team training and boy; was that rough! Even Akamaru was tired! After a month, they started going on missions once their sensei thought they had good enough teamwork between the three of them. And she was right. They were like family. A strange dysfunctional family, but still a family. They went on D-Ranks, became disappointed and had their dreams crushed, and learned things that they would've never found out on their own. Then, Kiba had to open his mouth.

It was another morning for Team 8, and after they finished team training, they decided to take a mission. When presented with the endless crap that was D-Ranks, Kiba got angry. When he first complained to the Hokage, Kiba expected the usual. First, he'd get smacked by Satsumi Uchiha on the head. Second, he'd get reprimanded by his sensei; Kurenai. Thirdly, he'd get rejected by Iruka sensei and then given a crappy D-Rank mission.

What he didn't expect was for the Hokage to ignore Iruka and give his team a C-Rank. Their mission was to bodyguard an old drunk named Tazuna. He was the worst! He made fun of him because he was the shortest out of the three of them. His exact words were, "What?! I paid for real shinobi to guard me! Not a bunch of snot-nosed brats! Hell, I bet the damn mutt can protect me better than these brats."

While Satsumi and Shino brushed the insults off, Kiba and his loyal companion growled. Kiba for being insulted and Akamaru for being called a mutt. Tazuna sniffed and blinked through his glasses and took another swig of his happy juice. "Just looking at them makes me feel scared for my life. The creepy one looks so stiff that a breeze could fly him like a kite and the girl looks like an emo. The dog looks the strongest out of all of them and the hairy midget looks like he'll fall over and die at any minute."

Yeah, not good first impressions. What sucked next was the complaining the old sot made over every single thing. "Your sensei is a _female_? Man the money I wasted bringing it to this place..."

The only good thing was the glare their sensei gave the drunk. The way he dropped his bottle and pissed his pants was funny the first five seconds. Later, the smell became an issue.

Not even an hour into the mission, Team 8 ran into two nukenin Kiri ninjas. Gozu and Meizu. The Demon Brothers. They were taken care of easily and their sensei easily captured them in a Genjutsu and tied them up. Tazuna was confused too. He said that he thought only bandits and some cocky drug lords might come after him for his bridge. He never thought about shinobi. Kurenai confirmed it when she used some Genjutsu to pry the truth out of him and told them that he was telling the truth.

Even as they sent a message back to Konoha, some odd feeling never left Kiba. Soon after they made it to Nami no Kuni and Shino confirmed that, once he got his bugs back, reinforcements were sent to help us out. Akamaru stayed hidden in Kiba's shirt and Satsumi looked very focused. Kurenai told them to stay together and guard the bridge builder. Not even five minutes passed when a thick mist rolled by and the bridge builder said that they were close to his home. They saw the huge bridge and Kiba could say that for a drunk, the builder knew how to make bridges.

They got off their transportation and started to go to the drunk's house when their sensei told them to duck.

Even as the huge-ass sword passed over them, Kiba felt totally calm. Like nothing was going to go wrong. He was totally wrong.

* * *

When Team 7 made it to the marshlands of Nami no Kuni, Naruto felt excited the most. This was his first time out of the village and he felt anxious yet totally calm. An odd combination, yet it felt totally right. He didn't have time to feel this way when they left the village in a rush, so taking the time to feel this way now was the best he could get.

Kakashi gave his farewells to the old guy who brought them over here and told them to hurry up. Naruto didn't know how Kakashi knew which way was the right way, but they still followed him. Not even two minutes and the mist started picking up. Going faster to reach the speed his sensei was traveling, which raised an eyebrow by said person, Naruto asked his question. "Hey sensei, what's with all the mist?"

Kakashi continued running for a couple paces before speaking. "Nami no Kuni is surrounded by a large body of water. Speaking from the textbook: Mist is tiny droplets of water hanging in the air. These droplets form when warmer water in the air is rapidly cooled, causing it to change from invisible gas to tiny visible water droplets." He said. Not understanding this at all, Naruto could only look at Kakashi with a blank look which brought a sign from the cyclopean Jounin. "Basically, since the water is cold, when it touches the warmer ground, it becomes a sort of steam that rises off the ground." He said. Naruto nodded still not getting it very well, but understanding that it was basically steam.

Suddenly they were hounded by Natsuki. "Sensei! I don't know how, but I can tell that there are people fighting not far from here!"

Kakashi nodded storing the information of his female Uzumaki being a sensor away for the moment and turning his attention to his Genin. "Ok." He said getting their attention. "It seems that Team 8's sensei is fighting against an enemy that is trying to kill the client. What I want you all to do is stay out of the fight and help the other members of Team 8 with guarding the bridge builder. Got it?" He said getting nods, they pushed towards until they saw a woman with black hair and a dress that seemed to be made of bandages. She held a kunai as she stood across a man who held a giant blade. The man was seen shirtless, with his chest only covered by a belt to which he attached his blade to. He wore baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers.

Gulping, Naruto and the rest of his team rush towards the Genin of Team 8.

"Well, well... if it isn't Momochi Zabuza. The Kirigakure no Kijin, (Demon of the Hidden Mist_). _Rouge shinobi from Kirigakure_."_

The six Genin's eyes widened. Rouge shinobi? "Well shit." Was heard from Kiba as they got on guard to protect the bridge builder.

The man, Zabuza, just smirked. "Sharingan no Kakashi. Did I get that right? It's too bad, eh. But you'll have to hand over the old man like I told the woman playing ninja." He said earning a growl from the leader of Team 8 and confusion from the two Uchiha.

'Sharingan?' The two Uchiha shared a look of disbelief. That was a doujutsu reserved for members of the Uchiha clan only. How did Kakashi have one?

"Stay out of this fight. Team 7, I taught you teamwork, now it's the time to use it! Team 8, follow your original mission and protect the bridge builder. Your sensei and I will take care of Zabuza."

He turned his attention to Kurenai. "Can you still fight?" He asked.

She nodded. "I haven't been injured at all yet. It's a good thing you made it here at the last moment. My kunai was about to break." Kurenai said as she showed him the chipped kunai.

Kakashi nodded. He turned his attention back to Zabuza and lifted his headband revealing his Sharingan. "So Zabuza... You ready?"

Seeing the proof right before their eyes, the Uchiha twins gasped as they saw the red eye with three black tomoe. Naruto made a face. "What's with his eye?" He asked.

Satsumi turned back to Naruto. "It's the Sharingan. It's a doujutsu, or rather visual technique that only members of the Uchiha clan have." Sastumi said. Sasuke picked up on where she left off. "It can let the user instantly see and comprehend any Genjutsu, Taijutsu, and Ninjutsu and let him or her reflect the attack back on the attacker. That's just the basics. There is a whole lot more than just what she mentioned."

Zabuza nodded as he lifted his blade off of his shoulder. "You got it right brat. But you've only scratched the surface. The Sharingan can analyze and opponent's technique and then copy it to the smallest detail. That's what we've been informed of back when I was in the Kirigakure Assassination Squad. We were told to eliminate you on the spot. The man who copied over a thousand ninjutsu... Sharingan no Kakashi."

Natsuki blinked. 'So our sensei was super famous the entire time? And he didn't teach us any cool Jutsu?' Little did she know, Sasuke and Naruto were thinking the same thing.

"Enough talking! I need to exterminate the old man now! But it seems I have to eliminate you and the woman first, eh Kakashi." Zabuza said as he disappeared.

The Genin blinked. 'He just disappeared!' Was the main thought between them all. Naruto strained his eyes as he saw a figure standing on the water. "Hey sensei! He's over there. Standing on the water."

Natsuki bit her lip. 'What's this crushing weight? It keeps on growing and growing...'

Kakashi gripped a kunai and Kurenai pulled another one out. "He's building a large amount of chakra." He whispered to his fellow Jounin.

Zabuza made a handsign and called out, "Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu..." Just then, an even thicker mist overlapped the previous thick mist, making everything visible disappear.

Natsuki made the first comment. "The mist is so thick it's like he vanished!"

Kiba sniffed the air. "The air is too damp for me to smell him out. What about you, Akamaru?" Said puppy smelled the air and whined. "Seems like Akamaru can't either." Kiba said scowling.

Shino pushed his glasses up. "I haven't got the chance to mark him with one of my allies yet. Therefore, I cannot track him as of now..."

Kakashi spoke up. "He'll come after us first. After all, Momochi Zabuza was the leader of the Kirigakure assassination unit. He's a master of the silent killing technique. As the name suggests, it happens in an instant without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast you passing this life without realizing what has happened. My Sharingan cannot fully neutralize it. So don't lower your guards for a second." He said making his fellow Jounin gulp in apprehension. The Genin just pulled out their kunai in a reverse grip and held their breaths as a dismembered voice spoke out.

"Eight points... Larynx, Spine, Lungs, Liver, Jugular, Subclavian Artery, Kidneys, Heart... Now, which one shall be my kill point..."

Akamaru whined and as Kiba tried to shush him while Shino stood stiffly as his hive buzzed nervously. Naruto and Natsuki stood beside each other with a weapon in each hand. Sasuke started shaking with fear as his sister tried to calm him down. 'What an intense thirst for blood! One shallow breath, one tiny movement of my eye... is enough to bring on instant death! If it goes like this, I'll go insane! The clash of three Jounin with intent to kill... I've never felt anything so chilling. It's as if my life is being choked off...' He never noticed the hand of his sister grasp his as he unconsciously squeezed it in fear. 'No! I can't bear it! I'd rather run...'

"Sasuke, calm down." Was the sharp order by Kakashi.

Sasuke snapped out of his reverie and noticed his sister squeezing his hand. He saw her smile a bit as he squeezed her hand back. He focused on his teacher's voice as he continued. "I'll protect you with my life. All of you." He turned back and eye-smiled. "I will not allow my comments to die. That is absolute."

Feeling himself calm down, Sasuke released his sister's hand and felt his blood run cold when he heard, "I wouldn't be so sure..." As Zabuza appeared in front of the Genin sword raised for a horizontal strike. "It's over." He said with confidence.

Kakashi, with great speed, appeared in front the Genin. "Your fight is with me."

He blocked the blade and pushed Zabuza back where Kurenai was waiting. As the masked rouge nin stumbled back to where the female Jounin was, Kakashi followed up with a kick that sent Zabuza straight into Kurenai's blade. Zabuza gave a death rattle as he sank to his knees.

Kurenai smirked as she felt a warm liquid run down her hands but gasped when she realized it wasn't blood. She ducked and rolled to the side just as Zabuza's blade cut through the air where she was just standing.

Making a displeased grunt, Zabuza threw his blade at Kakashi as he saw the man making handsigns. The blade cut through the masked Jounin as he collapsed into water. 'What?! He copied my jutsu that fast? Impossible.' Zabuza thought as he moved to the side as Kakashi stabbed where his back was a moment ago.

Zabuza went low for a sweep kick but Kakashi jumped over it and then brought his kunai down mimicking a hammer blow. After his kick missed, Zabuza completed the motion as he somersaulted backwards and mule-kicked Kurenai as she prepared to stab his downed figure.

Smirking as the female Jounin was sent flying by the kick, Zabuza wrenched his blade out of the tree it got caught on and spun around smacking the side of the blade against the face of the Genjutsu mistress.

The Genin winced when they heard a sickening snap that was Kurenai's nose as she crumpled and hit the ground as Zabuza prepared to bisect her.

Seeing their sensei in trouble, Team 8's eyes widened as Kiba yelled out a "No!" and threw his kunai at the sword-wielding Jounin. Hitting him straight in the neck, the man's hand went straight to its bloody neck as it collapsed into water.

"Time to die kid." Was the comment made as Zabuza appeared in the middle of the swarm of Genin. 'Shit! We're to slow!' Naruto yelled mentally as he and the others turned towards Zabuza. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw through a kunai that was covered in a blue energy straight at Zabuza.

Said rouge Jounin scoffed and deflected the blade with his own, but immediately regretted it as his arms went numb. 'Damn it! Kakashi infused his kunai with Raiton chakra. I can't move!' He cursed mentally as he felt himself become swarmed with many bugs. "It's over missing nin-san. Why? Because my allies drain your chakra with each passing second." Shino stated and Zabuza could confirm the statement as he felt his strength wane with each passing second.

Gathering the ability to move his arms, he said, "Not killing me when you had the chance was the biggest mistake you'll ever make." He dispersed into water as the Genin heard, "Not that you live long enough to learn from this."

Right as Zabuza swung his blade, Kakashi appeared and clashed blades once more. "Aren't you forgetting about someone?"

Zabuza smirked. "No, aren't you?" He said as a clone appeared in front of the twin Uchiha, scaring them from its sudden appearance with its sword raised, going for a clean decapitation. Kakashi cursed as he pushed Zabuza back and threw his kunai at the clone before drawing another to fight the original.

The clone expertly blocked the thrown projectile while it swung the sword at the two Uchiha. Snapping out of her fear, Satsumi pushed Sasuke out of the way as she closed her eyes. Hearing Sasuke's cry of fear for his sister, Naruto and Natsuki blocked the sword together with their kunai and fell to their knees at the strength of the blow. Sasuke, seeing his chance, kicked the legs of the clone making it fall backwards, as he lifted his kunai and stabbed the clone on the chest making it leak water before dispersing.

Zabuza grunted as he pushed Kakashi back and took a horizontal swing at the masked Jounin, who ducked and attempted to sweep the legs of his opponent. "Your Genin aren't bad. It's a good thing that wasn't the _real_ me. If it was, they would've died since the strength of a Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone) is only a tenth of the originals strength." Zabuza said as he jumped backwards on the water, leading Kakashi to him.

The Genin paled. If a Mizu Bunshin really was only one tenth of the originals strength, then they were screwed. Royally.

* * *

Kakashi followed Zabuza on top of the water and converted his chakra to Raiton. He clashed blades with Zabuza again, only for his opponent to turn to water and electrocute him as his chakra was used against him. 'Ugh, what's with the water. It's too heavy.' Kakashi realized it too late as he heard, "Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu!"

Within seconds, a large spherical orb if water formed around Zabuza's hands and trapped Kakashi inside of it. "Heh... I got you. This prison is made of water, but is stronger than steel!"

Kakashi cursed. 'He's more skilled than I thought.'

Zabuza laughed. "So much for the great Kakashi... I'll finish you off later. But first," he said, staring at the Genin. "Your friends have to be eliminated." With a handsign, 2 water clones appeared.

The clones walked toward. "You think wearing your headband makes you a shinobi?"

The other continued where the other left off. "When you hovered between life and death, so many times it doesn't phase you..."

They both started talking. "Then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly your profile is entered in my bingo book. Then you may have earned the title, ninja."

The Genin and bridge builder took a step back, as the original called out, "But, to call upstarts, like you... Shinobi, is a joke..."

Gritting his teeth, Naruto gripped the kunai in his hand harder just as the clones disappeared and punched him and Kiba across the face.

Shaking their heads, the clones shouted, "You're just brats!"

Kakashi, knowing when he lost, called out to the Genin. "Listen! Get the bridgebuilder and run! You can't win this fight!" He said gaining shocked looks from the Genin. Kakashi continued. "He's using all his power to keep me in this prison! So he can only fight you using his water clones. The clones can't go for from his body. If you get away from him, he can't follow! Now run!"

Seeing the facts hit the other Genin's faces, Naruto walked over to Sasuke. "Hey..." He whispered catching the male Uchiha's attention. "I got a plan. Can you help me out?" Naruto said pulling a set of large shuriken out of his pack. Sasuke smirked. They seperated from the group and charged the clones.

Kakashi rubbed his eyes. "Idiots! What are you doing?! I told you to run!"

Zabuza's clones laughed. "Seems like they _want_ to die. Sorry Kakashi. Well, not really." They said as they swung their blades, bisecting the two boys in half.

"No!" Screamed Natsuki and Satsumi. Kiba and Shino stood there with shocked looks on their faces as Tazuna resisted the urge to puke and failed miserably.

What they didn't expect was for both boys to disappear in clouds of smoke upon contact and for one of the water clones to revert back to water. "What?!" Was the response of the remaining water clones as the smoke dispersed revealing Sasuke preparing to throw the windmill shuriken that he received from his teammate and Naruto throwing smaller shuriken at the clone while making handsigns.

Once completed, Naruto yelled, "Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" His shuriken multiplied from five to fifty as they cut through the Mizu Bunshin like it wasn't there at all.

Naruto grinned. "Now Sasuke!" He yelled prompting Sasuke to throw the windmill shuriken towards the sword wielder. To the Genin's surprise, the man just plucked it out the air like a frisbee. "Too bad brats. That was a nice plan you had, too bad it fail-"

He was cut off as another shuriken appeared from the shadow of the earlier one thrown. Without another choice, Zabuza jumped avoiding the thing entirely. But not predicting the shuriken to transform itself to a Naruto, who then flung its kunai at the rouge Jounin.

Cursing at the damn brats for being tricked, he let go of the prison technique and cut down the orange-clad boy, who disappeared in a puff of smoke. 'Kage Bunshin? They teach that move to kids these days?!'

Zabuza had to quickly duck so he wouldn't become decapitated by the lightning-infused kunai Kakashi swung at him, and kicked Kakashi's wrist; knocking the kunai out of his hand and flying towards the forest.

Not deterred, Kakashi grabbed Zabuza by the foot and tossed him ashore where he met the Jounin with a kick that smack him to the ground. Zabuza coughed as blood stained the bandages around his mouth as he kicked Kakashi in the gut, which sent the man flying to a tree. Standing up with minor difficulty, Zabuza began handsigns for his strongest jutsu; the Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu (Water Dragon Bullet).

Zabuza had to stop short as he dodged a kunai aimed at his back from the woman he swore he knocked unconscious with his blade. Kurenai, while leaning against the tree, had her hand held out, which signified the kunai thrown that stopped Zabuza from competing his technique.

"Kurenai sensei! You're alive!" Yelled Kiba followed by happy barks from Akamaru. Smiling at her student, she began to limp her way to them before she fell to her knees and coughed up more blood before falling unconscious. Her last thought was, 'That last hit I took really got me...'

Zabuza stood up as he began his handsigns just as he saw Kakashi copying him. He grunted. "That's all you are-"

"-a damned monkey! Right? That's what you were going to say." Kakashi finished for Zabuza.

Said sword wielder's eyes widened. "Can you-"

"-see the future? Yes. And you know what?" Kakashi said. "Your future is death!" He finished the handsigns and called out the name of the technique. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Great Waterfall)!"

Zabuza's eyes widened as his technique was finished by his opponent. 'He really can see the future. Fu-' was his last thoughts as the fatigue and the crushing power of the water sent him into unconsciousness.

Kakashi, seeing his opponent down for the count, went to confirm his kill when senbon needles were shot down towards Zabuza's neck where the man's eyes widened before slowly closing. A masked shinobi appeared in a crouch and called out to Kakashi. "Thank you for weakening my target to the point of unconsciousness. I dealt with him and will dispose of the remains elsewhere as to not divulge the secrets of Kirigakure to outsiders. Again, thank you for your assistance." Was said before the masked shinobi left with the body of Zabuza.

Kakashi turned to the Genin. "Well then, time to-" was all that he could say before he passed out from chakra exhaustion.

The Genin went silent and took a moment to digest the situation. Zabuza was killed. Good. Their sensei were either dead, unconscious, or unable to move and they are just standing their. Two seconds later, Naruto and Natsuki make Kage Bunshin to carry Kakashi and Kurenai as the bridge builder snapped out of his shock.

"Are they alright?" Tazuna asked.

Shino nodded. "It appears that Team 7's instructor has chakra exhaustion. Why? Because of his last few techniques which I observed had enough chakra to cause chakra exhaustion. Our sensei, however, is unconscious from blunt trauma. Why? She was hit with the flat of the large blade the man, Zabuza's blade." Shino finished.

Satsumi shook the bridge builder's arm causing him to jump. She rose an eyebrow. "Where is your house? We need to get there before anyone else tries to stop us."

Tazuna nodded. "It's not far from here. Come on! It'll only be a few minutes so hurry up."

With that, the Genin and their unconscious sensei rushed with the bridge builder to his house before anything else happens.

At the same time, the masked shinobi places Zabuza on the ground and removes the senbon from his neck. "Hm, it seems that the copy ninja really _did_ send you to unconsciousness."

The shinobi waved smelling-salts under Zabuza's nose, waking him up from his unconsciousness. He looked around to see if here was any sign of danger before seeing his apprentice with the damn mask on again. He sighed.

"Looks like I failed this time." Zabuza said before scowling. "Haku, take that damn mask off!"

Haku giggled before removing the mask revealing a feminine face. "My apologies, Zabuza-sama."

* * *

**Well, that's it for this chapter. I want to thank all of you for reading this and for reviewing my story. If you guys want any questions answered, just review or PM me. Thanks for reading again, and make sure to Review. By pressing the button there. Yeah that one. **


	8. Author Note

Ok guys. Sorry for being late for a heck of a long time. But I can explain. You see, going to school and getting B's isn't what some parents want their kids to get. So technically I've been grounded until the 10th of this month. I'm pleased to say that I will put out the next chapter tomorrow, March 15th. Check around before 4:00pm Eastern Time.

Still, I want to thank those who stuck with me and my story, wondering when the hell was the time when I would update.

Thanks,

your thankful fanfic author


	9. Chapter 8: Let the Truth be Revealed

**Here it is! Finally! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I found it quite difficult to write considering I had two Konoha genin teams and I didn't want team seven to take all of the spotlight. But, having a month without access to a computer with all of these amazing ideas... Well, I guess you can find out for yourself. **

**To Pissed Mankey: My parents are proud of me. It's just that they don't want me to have bad grades. **

**To Skullkid First Child of Order: Sasuke is younger by half an hour. Naruto was brought to this world by the Shinigami as shown in the first chapter. **

**To UzumakiKirofu: If I added Haku, then the entire match would've been out of balance and Zabuza would've kicked Kakashi's ass. Plus, Kurenai was practically worthless in this fight. Be****sides, no one would pull Haku and Zabuza ****out of trouble if I made Kakashi and Kurenai win... Yet.**

**Chapter 8: Training and the Battle of the Bridge**

* * *

Naruto grunted. "Why does he weigh so much?!" Carrying Kakashi on his back was tough. The man had to at least weigh a ton easily. When asked, the bridge builder refused to carry Kakashi because he was their 'cargo' or some other bullshit excuse.

If there was one at least one calming thought, it was that both Kiba and Shino had to distribute their sensei's weight between them. Speaking of Kiba, the feral teenager grunted as they walked along to Tazuna's house.

"How much longer is it gonna take to get there you old drunk?!" Kiba growled. He was getting tired.

Tazuna looked around nervously as the group entered the town. "We're almost there. Just a block or two to go." He said just as they reached a small two story house and the sound of food being prepared.

When entering the house, Tazuna lost some of the weight that seemed to be pushing him down. "I'm home Tsunami." The young woman dropped the pan she was using to prepare the food, and spun around.

She had long blue hair and wore a short pink sleeved shirt and a dark blue skirt that went below her knees. Said woman ran towards he father and hugged him as if he were to disappear if she let go.

Tazuna smiled but frowned a second later. "Tsunami," he said getting her attention. "These young children are the Shinobi I've hired and their sensei are in bad shape. Could you get the first-aid kit?"

Tsunami nodded. "I'll get it right away." She turned towards the genin. "You can place your sensei in the living room. I'll be back shortly with the first-aid kit." She said before disappearing further into the house.

Naruto grunted before he nearly sprinted to the living room and put Kakashi on the ground before collapsing next to him. He glared at his teammates. "You guys could've helped me carry Kakashi you know?"

Sasuke looked at his direction before rolling his eyes and walking towards his sister, while Natsuki smirked at him. "Well, if you gave us the chance to, I guess we could have helped you." She said, earning a harsher glare from Naruto. "But you seemed to be doing a good enough job. Besides, it's also my mission to protect the bridge builder. What kind of Shinobi would I be if I couldn't even do that?" She said, one hand on her cheek.

Naruto growled. "A helpful one..." He muttered before moving out of the way so Kiba and Shino could set their sensei down. Just then, an idea wormed its way into his brain.

"Yo Natsuki, Sasuke." He called out to his teammates catching their attention. He waved his hand over a grin on his face. Their curiosity getting the better of them, the two remaining members of Team Seven walked over to their orange-clothed member. "What?" Sasuke said. Couldn't Naruto see that he was seeing if his sister was ok or not?

Ignoring the annoyance of the Uchiha, Naruto's grin seemed to grow even larger. "This is the perfect time. He can't find out at all and only we'd know."

Natsuki placed both hands on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. "Naruto, calm down." He shrugged off her hands and pointed at Kakashi.

"His mask." He stated. Sasuke looked at Kakashi briefly thinking of gigantic red lips before banishing the thought. Natsuki had a similar thought.

"What about his mask?" Natsuki asked.

Naruto stopped smiling. He looked over at Natsuki. He pointed again at Kakashi. "Don't you want to see what his face looks like?"

'Yes.' Was the collective thought. Sasuke, however, scoffed before turning back to the direction of his sister; who was helping the woman Tsunami patch up Team Eight's sensei.

Natsuki stopped Sasuke and turned him around before placing her body being his. "Nope! Sorry Sasuke, but you gotta stay with us until we find out what's under his mask." She said in a sing-song voice.

Sasuke frowned but relented. Just as Naruto was going to bend down to remove Kakashi's mask, the jounin woke up and immediately sat up. Seeing his genin, their faces mortified, he eye-smiled. "Yo."

Naruto's eye twitched. "Yo? That's all you have to say to us?! Yo?!"

Kakashi nodded as he yawned. "Yup. Now where are we, my cute little genin?"

Just then Tsunami came up with the medical kit and began inspecting Kakashi's wounds. "You're in my house shinobi-san. My father has been waiting for you and the other shinobi to awaken."

Kakashi blinked as he processed the information. "Ah I see. So that means you are the daughter of our client."

"Yes, yes she is." Said a tired voice. The Shinobi turned to look at Tazuna leaning against the doorway. The bridge builder looked over at Kakashi with an unreadable expression, then he smiled. "Are you ok, Kakashi?"

Kakashi lied back down and sighed. "I've been better. It'll be a week before I can move normally."

Naruto jumped and pointed to his left eye. "Yeah and what was up with the red left eye?"

Sasuke nodded. "That's supposed to be a bloodline reserved for the people in my clan."

Kakashi sighed again before he gave the genin an eye-smile. "I'll tell you later. Right now, our mission comes first."

"That's right Kakashi." A woman's voice said from the doorway. She was being held up by both of the boys of her genin team. Team Eight's sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, is a fair-skinned woman of slender build. She has long black hair reaching her upper back, and red eyes that could be mistaken for the Sharingan. She had red lipstick and purple eye shadow. Her outfit was a red mesh armor blouse with only the right sleeve visible. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages and she wore the Konoha forehead protector on its rightful place.

"This is Kurenai Yuhi. She is the sensei for team eight and will be your second commanding officer on this mission. Just like me, she is a jounin."

The members of team seven nodded as Kakashi sat back up. "Ok!" He said, clapping his hands together, "After I finish my nap, we can go over our protection details for our client and this mission." With that, he fell down unconscious once again.

Silence.

Naruto's eye twitched again. "Did he just pass out again?"

* * *

After waking up, Kakashi came to the fact that Zabuza wasn't dead yet. He called for all of the teams to meet him in the living room of their client's house.

After all of the shinobi of the mission arrived, Kakashi began to give the genin a lesson before scaring them.

"Alright! Remember the fight Kurenai and I had against the shinobi from the mist?" Kakashi started. All of the genin nodded.

"Yes. He was a part of the Kirigakure Hunter corps. How, his mask identified him as such." Shino stated. Kakashi nodded. "Very good Shino. Your knowledge is very spot-on." He turned back to his genin and the others who didn't have a clue on what was going on.

"That boy, the one in the mask; he is a part of the Tracker Unit from Kirigakure. They're a specialist group that go after rogue ninja.

Natsuki tilted her head to the side, processing all of the information. "Why do they have to go after them? Are they really that important?"

Kakashi nodded. "Like our Anbu, they're tasked with destroying the bodies rogue shinobi. That way, none of their village secrets are exposed to other shinobi villages."

Sasuke caught in quickly to the explanation. "So if these Hunter shinobi weren't around, then they would be able to steal the secrets of our village from our bodies?"

Kurenai nodded. "A shinobi's body is the most important thing to a village. The body contains all of the village's secrets: ninjutsu, chakra, special medicines used on the body..."

Kakashi continued. "These are the secrets of a shinobi's body. If their enemies find them, their people being grave danger. For instance, if I were to die at the hands of an enemy, they would try to analyze my Sharingan..."

Satsumi's eyes widened. "And then they might gain enough information to copy it!"

Hearing this, Sasuke's eyes widened before he reached up to his eyes. 'This isn't just because of revenge anymore... I have to kill Itachi before someone else kills him and takes his Sharingan!'

"-the sacred duty of the shinobi trackers to prevent this... To keep the village secrets safe..." Kakashi let that fact sink in.

"If a ninja betrays his village, the trackers hunt them down, eliminate him, and obliterate every trace of his existence. That's their specialty." Kakashi said.

Kiba spoke up. "So that swordsman's body is being disposed of right this minute?"

Kakashi nodded. "That would be the case." He said earning a couple of sighs of relief, before he reminded them, "if he were dead in the first place."

Silence engulfed the room again.

"W-what do you mean, 'If he were dead'? Did you just give a lesson on how Tracker ninja eliminate all traces of a corpse and protect the secrets?" Tazuna said, scared out of his mind.

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Yes. That would be the case, if our fellow tracker ninja was actually a tracker ninja."

Kurenai caught on to what he was saying. "So the tracker ninja was actually Zabuza's accomplice."

Kakashi nodded. "They deal with the body immediately, on the spot, so there's no room for error."

"Is it really that important to complete it on the spot?" Natsuki asked.

Kakashi looked at his only female subordinate. "What was the weapon the tracker ninja used on Zabuza."

"It was a senbon." Shino said.

Kakashi nodded. "Unless you have near perfect aim, senbon aren't the most widely used weapon to kill an enemy."

Naruto held his hand up. "So what you're saying, is that Zabuza; you know, the big guy with a giant sword, who almost killed us, is still alive?"

Kakashi laughed silently at the description. "Yes."

Naruto's face fell before hardening. "Then we need to train! And fast!"

"All the training it the world can't help you! Nothing is going to be good!"

The shinobi looked to the speaker, only to see a young boy with spiky black hair covered by a blue and white striped hat. He wore a green jumpsuit and a yellow shirt.

Kiba, taking offense to the boy's attitude rudely asked, "Who are you?!"

Ignoring the Inuzuka, the boy ran up to his mother and gave her a hug before running up to the bridge builder and giving him a hug. "Welcome back grandpa."

Tsunami, upset in her son's behavior, said, "Inari, these are the shinobi who protected your grandfather."

Tazuna smiled at seeing his grandson. "It's fine. Right Inari?"

Inari said nothing. He just looked at the direction of his mother and said, "Mom, these people are going to die. Gato and his men will come back and find them and wipe them out."

Naruto snickered while Kiba fumed. "What?! You cheeky little brat!" The feral teenager said.

Inari turned his back on the shinobi in the room. "You can't win against Gato.

Kiba, incensed at the brats attitude shouted, "What did you say, brat?!" As he moved to punch the kid, Naruto subdued Kiba in a full-nelson; predicting what he was going to do to the pessimistic kid. "Let me go, Naruto! I'm going to teach the kid a lesson!"

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, but not in the right way."

Satsumi just sighed. "Calm down Kiba. You're embarrassing yourself."

Not calmed in the slightest, Kiba continued struggling as he told off Inari. "This Gato isn't a match for us! We're shinobi! We're better than some half-asses mercenaries!"

Inari just looked on with the same depressed look. "If you want to stay alive, you should go back to where you came from." He said before running off to his room.

Tazuna sighed as he watched his grandson leave the room. "Sorry about that."

Kiba just huffed as he left the house, his partner Akamaru following him having woken up from his nap. Kurenai turned to look at Kakashi. "I suppose it's time to train our genin more. Especially with the information of Zabuza being still alive."

Kakashi nodded and sighed. 'My chakra hasn't replenished enough for me to do anything but walk for now.'

"Alright. Teams Seven and Eight! It's time to train!"

* * *

Ok guys. Not much of a chapter, but as promised, I uploaded something after being away for so long. The next chapter, which deals with the training and the super special awesome fight between Teams Seven and Eight vs Zabuza and Haku will be out soon. I promise. Because I already have the fight down. Just need to complete the training. Spoiler: it won't be tree walking or water walking. It'll be something so overused it's not even funny. And because of school and SAT's which are busting my ass full force, I need to set aside some time to give you guys your drugs- I mean your next installment of this story. Aside from that, thanks for reading, reviewing, following and favoriting this story. It means a lot.

-Exiled


	10. Author's Note SERIOUS

Hello everyone, Exiled here. I know you may be disappointed with me for not updating in a hell of a long time and believe me I'm disappointed in myself as well.

I've been busy editing many of the chapters of this story in an effort to bring it up to a good standard of quality that I'd be happy with, but unfortunately the longer I worked at this, the clearer it became that it was an impossible task. I realized simply screwed things up too badly.

In my mind, the only solution was to scrap all the chapters and start over from the beginning. For this reason, I've decided that I'm going to delete every single poorly written chapter except for the very first one, then start the story over in what will hopefully be a much improved version.

I'd delete the entire story, but I did have to consider the fact that it has a lot of subscribers. Unless they had also subscribed to my author profile, this story would simply disappear from their list and they'd have no idea what happened; they'd likely assume that it was abandoned, when that's not the case. I'd hate for that to happen since it happened to me.

But as promised, I have almost completed my rewrites of my entire story. The reason being my Naruto was too Mary Sue like, and after reading 'the bonds that shape us' by adamxero, it gave me inspiration to revamp my stories to be just like adamxero's. The reason? His story is amazing and well written, not to mention his character development is godly. Each of his chapters, even the fillers, have a reason why they are made. Because of his story, I decided to change mine up and make it better than what it was before. So I'm sorry if you thought this was a new chapter of the story.

But soon. I swear on my fanfiction career. I'll get the revamped chapters and 2 new chapters out very soon. It may not be next week, but it'll happen as soon as I get some extra free time from school and work.

Thanks for those who stayed and heard me out and accepted my period of absence. This story is fueled by you and will live on through you.

P.S. I have outlines of the Chuunin exams and the Hokage Retrieval Arc mostly completed so expect those soon.


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